


I Didn't Realize

by Firewhisperer13



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Drug Use, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Marvel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 33,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24741973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firewhisperer13/pseuds/Firewhisperer13
Summary: Mae's mother left her when she was six years old, prompting her and her father to leave behind their lives in Sanfransokyo for a rustic Oregon home. However, Mae's father becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol, and by the time she's fourteen, Mae's had enough. With money left by Hiro's Aunt Cass, Mae flees back to Sanfransokyo and begins to live with the Hamada family. But things go downhill THERE too, and Mae begins to realize she may never find happiness. All Rights Reserved, Walt Disney Animation Studios, 2014
Relationships: Hiro Hamada/Original Female Character(s)





	1. Chapter 1

"Mae, get you ass in here right now!" My father called drunkenly.  
I cringed. I knew I couldn't pretend to be asleep, and if I just ignored it, I'd be beaten. I didn't want to go, though, because I knew just what he wanted  
"Coming, father," I called.  
I slipped on some thick soled shoes, knowing this would get messy. I cautiously opened the door and walked to the open kitchen. I saw pretty much what I had expected; broken bottles and glasses were scattered all over the floor, and amber colored liquid was spilled everywhere. The air held the disgusting smell of cigarette smoke.  
And oddly enough, this was low-key for what he and his friends do.  
My dad just shoved a broom and dustpan into my arms and staggered away. I stood there, watching him stumble and fall into his room, then got to work. Every now and then, I'd stoop down to pick up a larger piece of glass, and something would slice my hand.   
Oh well. Now my hands would match my arms.  
I tossed away the last of the glass and went over to one of our kitchen drawers. I dug around a bit until I found a stained, worn envelope. My dad didn't know that I knew this existed, but I do. I ripped it open and pulled out a well preserved piece of paper. A large wad of cash fell out with it. I unfolded the paper and read what was on it.  
_Mae,_  
_I'm glad you're reading this._  
_Well, sort of._  
_As you know, your mother has left your family. This caused your father to get addicted to drugs and alcohol. I wrote this letter, as well as gave you this money, in case things ever get really bad. This should be enough money for a plane ticket to us, as well as the cab ride. Just ask the driver to take you to the Lucky Cat Cafe. I hope living with me will make things better! Come as soon as you can. We'll be waiting for you._  
- _Cass Hamada_  
I stuffed the cash, as well as the letter, into my pocket, and snuck into my room to pack up my things. I lived in Oregon, which wasn't far from Sanfransokyo, where the Hamadas lived. I'd lived there before, up until my mom left my family when I was six. That's when everything had gone downhill, and we'd left. I guess I'm going back now.  
I threw my two suitcases out of my closet and rapidly unzipped them. I spilled out all of my clothing and shoes, and stuffed them into my larger of the two suitcases. I then took all the things left that I could put in a suitcase and packed them up. Posters, a pair of sheets, a comforter cover, pillow cases, framed pictures, figurines, hygienic products, books, journals, and any other thing that I could think of got shoved in. Finally, any small means of entertainment I wanted with me got put in a backpack I would keep at my feet. My room looked totally empty, and I glanced at the clock. It read '9:00.' I took one last look around, grabbed my suitcases, and hauled them quietly out of my room. I made my way through the hallway of of our one floored house, set the suitcases down, then went back for my backpack, placed my purse in it, and grabbed a phone. I needed a ride to the airport. I dialed a number and held the phone to my ear. It rang once... twice... and she picked up.  
"Hello?"  
"A, it's me, Mae. Listen, I know you're probably tired from work, but I need a ride."  
There was a short pause, then a high pitched voice.  
"I'll be right over."  
I sighed and hung up, placing my phone in the back pocket of my denim skirt. I snatched up my suitcases and quietly walked out the front door. I sat, waiting for A to come. She eventually showed up, helped me with my bags, and we drove off.  
"Alright, where are we going?"  
"The airport."  
A didn't question. She just drove me there. I sighed and looked out the window as Paramore played on the radio.  
No going back, Mae.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lucky Cat cafe, please."  
I had successfully escaped my house, leaving no note, and made it to Sanfransokyo in one piece. I was now in the cab, ready to go to Ms. Hamada's.  
I hoped Hiro and Tadashi were still there. They were my only two friends when I was younger.  
Once the cab started moving, I pulled out my cell phone. Ms. Hamada had given me her number, and I decided it would be good to call and let her know I was coming. I dialed her number and held my phone to my ear. It rang only once, and she picked up.  
"Lucky Cat cafe, Cass Hamada speaking. We're currently closed, but-"  
"Ms. Hamada! It's me, Mae Rouge."  
I could practically _hear_ her smile.  
"Mae! Oh my god, it's been so long!"  
"I know, I know."  
"What is it, sweetie."  
"I used your letter. I left my home. I'm on my way to the cafe right now."  
"Alright, I'll get ready for you. Oh, Hiro's going to be so happy to see you! Bye, sweetie."  
She hung up and I sat in silence, ruffling my Skrillex cut, red, orange, and yellow hair. I looked down at my arms, bloodied and scarred, in disappointment. My life had really come to that point, I guess.  
The driver pulled into a skinny, tall, three floored building. I payed him, removed my bags from the back, and made my way to the clear glass door.  
_Just test the door, Mae. If it's not unlocked, knock. If no one answers, call. And if no one answers that, well, you're screwed._  
I turned the door knob and, surprisingly, it was unlocked. Guess there are no trust issues in Sanfransokyo. I blast of cool air conditioning hit me, relieving me from the heavy, muggy summer heat. I rolled my suitcases in and shut the door behind me. I found myself standing a small, charming cafe, with more of a coffee shop look. No one seemed home, though, so I called out.   
"Hello? Ms. Hamada?"  
I heard footsteps, and before me appeared Ms. Hamada, who didn't look much different from eight years ago.  
"Oh, honey, don't be so formal. You can call me Aunt Cass."  
I smiled and she hugged me.  
"Look at how you've grown, look at how you've changed. I love your hair! And-"  
Her gaze flickered down to my arms, and I cringed.  
"Oh, Mae. I-I'm so sorry."  
I sighed.  
"It's fine. I haven't done it in the past few months."  
"But these wounds on your hands look fresh."  
"Oh, those are from having to clean up broken glass."  
"I see..."  
There were more footsteps, and I looked up to see... holy crap! A _really_ tall, much older, more handsome Tadashi. Wow. That was my only word. Wow.  
"Whoa, is that little Mae Rouge?" He smiled.  
"Hey Tadashi!"   
He hugged me and seemed to say the same things as Aunt Cass.  
"Wow, you've gotten so tall. And really beautiful. Hiro's gonna flip when he sees you! Nice hair, by the way."  
I laughed, loving this moment. I was already happier, and I had just gotten here. My glasses slipped down my nose a little, and I pushed them up, prompting Tadashi to notice my arms.  
"Oh god... Mae, don't let Hiro see that."  
I nodded, and more steps followed. I looked up and quickly hid my arms behind my back.  
Why?  
Well, because standing there was a boy with shaggy black hair, who was skinny and much taller, with light brown eyes.  
Yes, standing there was Hiro.


	3. Chapter 3

"Aunt Cass?" A very tired looking Hiro asked. "Who is this?"  
Tadashi smacked him on the back of his head, and he flinched. I giggled as Tadashi spoke.  
"Come on, bonehead! That's Mae. Remember her? She's the girl who dumped sand on your head in preschool! They lived next-door to us for six years? Is any of this sparking _any_ memories at all?"  
Hiro stood there, staring blankly, for a moment, then went wide eyed and raced up and hugged me. I stood there in an awkward position for a moment, but after realizing he probably couldn't see my arms, I hugged back. As soon as he got that satisfaction, he pushed back, and I hid my arms again.  
"I'll take your bags to your room," Aunt Cass smiled. "We should give you two some alone time to catch up."  
Aunt Cass took my bags and began rolling them away, and Tadashi followed.  
"I'd recommend covering your arms from now on," he whispered in my ear as he passed by. I nodded, then followed Hiro into their main room. It was a small living room with a deep, fluffy, red couch and a fairly large television. He sat on the couch and I followed, trying to hide my arms. I didn't think I did that good a job with that, but I guess I did, because Hiro didn't seem to notice.  
Either that, or he's just really oblivious.  
"Mae, not to sound rude, but what are you doing here?"  
I sighed. For not trying to sound rude, he certainly just did. But maybe I'm too sensitive.  
"Well, uh, you see..." I stuttered. I looked up into his brown eyes and suddenly knew that anything I said to him wouldn't be judged, and would be kept a secret. "Okay, so the reason we left eight years ago was because, after my mom packed up, my dad got addicted to drugs, so Aunt Cass sent us away. But before we left, Aunt Cass gave me an envelope with money and a letter explaining what I needed to do if I ever left home. Things at my house got really bad, so I left, and, well, now I'm here."  
Hiro nodded, but there was a sad look in his eyes.  
"Hiro," I sighed. "Don't worry about it. There's nothing you can do. I've left that cursed place, and now I'm here, starting a new life."  
"But what about school?"  
I smiled at his ignorance. He really couldn't remember me.  
"I graduated last year, mainly for my literary talents."  
"Literary?" He asked slowly.  
I sighed, frustrated.  
"Writing, Hiro! I graduated for my extensive knowledge of the English language!"  
"Oh..."  
I face palmed, and then the both of us began laughing.  
"My teachers got their hands on my poetry, and that sold the graduation deal for them."  
"R-really? W-we-well, could I maybe read one?" He stuttered. I wondered why. There was no shame in asking me to read something of mine.  
"Yeah, sure." I pulled out my phone and opened up my notepad to one of my poems, than handed it to him. He read with quick eyes.  
 _The stars  
They twinkle  
They shine  
Unlike me  
  
I am the night sky  
That they rest on,  
Are seen on  
No one cares for me  
  
I am the darkness  
A blanket of death  
I am unimportant  
A bad omen  
  
I hide from the light  
When it tries to choose me  
And when I am caught  
I die  
  
Withering away  
Melting, crying  
I shrivel in agony  
Once the morning sun rises  
  
But I get another chance  
When the sun hides away  
To dance across the stars  
And stretch my black cloth  
  
But the light always wins  
In this eternal war  
Every time light hits  
I gain another scar  
  
  
The Sun keeps them alive  
But they are worthless  
After all, I enclose them  
Once they die  
  
I snap out of my day dream  
And shake my head, hair flying  
People do not see me when  
They die  
  
But I do hate the spotlight  
As people hate me  
It’s a deep seeded hatred  
Fueled by the fires of rage  
  
I want to spread my dark wings  
Escape into the night  
To never be seen  
No one would miss me  
  
But whenever I try to leave  
The ball and chain   
Of everything  
Keeps me in my spot  
  
I am the night sky  
Unwanted  
Unseen  
  
Unimportant_

"Wow, Mae," Hiro smiled once he had finished, handing my phone back to me. "That was amazing."  
"Thanks," I blushed, taking my phone back.  
"Mae! Come see your new room!"  
I smiled and stood.  
"Coming, Aunt Cass!" I turned to look down at Hiro. "See you later, Hiro."  
With that, I walked off to the guest room.


	4. Chapter 4

My room wasn't all that big or impressive, but it reminded me of my old one. There was a twin bed against the back wall, which Aunt Cass said could be made to function as a couch. The walls were bare, which was perfect, and there was a desk right next to the door frame, along with a tall bookshelf.  
In short, it may not have been much, but it was perfect.  
_I'll set everything up tomorrow,_ I thought. _For now, I should just get some sleep._  
I removed my sheets from my bag, and delicately put them on my bed. I changed into a pair of pajamas, and I was about to fall asleep, when my phone rang. Being the idiot I was at eleven o'clock at night, I didn't check the number and just answered.  
"Hello?"  
"Mae, where the hell are you?"  
I froze. That was my father's voice.  
_How'd he know I was missing? Once he falls asleep after a drink, he's out for the night. At most, he'd figure out I was missing tomorrow._  
"Uh..."  
"Don't lie to me, Mae. I can track you!"  
"I'm, uh... I'm at a place?" I squeak.  
"You little bitch! Don't play this game with me! I know you're in San Fransokyo, and I'm in a cab on my way to the airport. I'm coming for you, Mae, and I'll be there by one o'clock a.m.!"  
With that, my father hang up, and I threw my phone at my bed. I dashed out of my room, heading towards Aunt Cass. Lucky for me, she was in the living room watching a movie. I ran up and stood beside her. She looked at me and her eyes got as wide as dinner plates.  
"Mae, honey, what's wrong? You're shaking!"  
I began screaming and crying as I spoke.  
"M-my dad! H-h-he wa-wa-was tra-tr-track-tracking me! He-he- he's on his way here ri-rig-righ-right now!"  
I heard running footsteps and looked over to see Hiro and Tadashi coming down the stairs, just as Aunt Cass shot up.  
"Oh my god, Mae! That's awful! I'll figure something out, I promise."  
"Hurry," I cried. "We only have two hours."   
Aunt Cass nodded and ran off. Tadashi and Hiro approached.  
"Mae, what's going on?" Tadashi asked.  
"Her father's tracking her, and he's on his way here."  
They both gasped, and Tadashi pulled me into a hug. I cried like I was five as he held me.  
"Mae, everything's gonna be okay. You just have to trust us. Aunt Cass will figure something out, I'm sure."  
I felt more arms wrap around me, and I knew Hiro was hugging me. I felt _loved._ That was something I hadn't felt in a long time.  
"Hi, yes, I have a young girl here- no, I knew she was coming. She escaped from her father, who was an alcohol and drug addict... yes with my guidance. Anyways, her father is tracking her and attempting to come and steal her... yes he's most likely going to harm her... Uh, Albert Rouge... Lucky Cat cafe... Thank you so much! Yes, you have a nice evening, too."  
I smiled and nuzzled deeper into Tadashi's chest. I was going to be saved, somehow. Aunt Cass re-entered the room, and I smiled at her through the boys' arms.  
"The police are on it. They're going to make sure he doesn't get here."  
"Thanks so much..."  
"Why don't you sleep in Hiro and Tadashi's room tonight?"   
I nodded, and they let go so the three of us could go up there. Their room was really nice. One half was Hiro's, which had a cluttered, messy desk, and the other was Tadashi's, which was much nicer.  
"I think I have a sleeping bag in my closet," Tadashi smiled. He went to go look for it, leaving me with Hiro. Luckily, I was wearing a long sleeved top, covering my arms. It was only a few seconds before Tadashi emerged with a black sleeping bag.  
"Awesome! My favorite color!"  
I grabbed it from Tadashi and unrolled it next to Hiro's bed.  
"Oh, uh, you don't mind, right?"  
"Hm? Oh, not at all! Here, I have an extra pillow."  
Hiro handed me a pillow with a white case on it, and I placed it down. Climbing into the sleeping bag, I felt warm and safe. Tadashi turned off the lights, and, oddly, I fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! The end of this chapter contains some self harm. It's not vividly described, but please be careful if this is a trigger for you!

_**"Mae, get over here!"**_  
_**"No, daddy, stop!"**_  
_**"Get over here, or I'll make you pay!"**_  
_**"No, please! I left to escape what you're doing to me!"**_  
_**"You've forced my hand, Mae."**_  
_**With that, a knife appeared in my father's hand, and he dug it into my chest.**_  
  
I woke up screaming. My eyelids shot open, and once my vision cleared, I saw Hiro and Tadashi looking at me, causing me to scream more.  
"Jeez," I panted. "Don't do that again!"  
"Sorry," Tadashi sighed. "We were just really worried because you were screaming so much..."  
"Oh, yeah. Bad dream. Sorry." I don't think I'd ever been so embarrassed.  
"Well, there's great news," Hiro smiled, bending down to help me up. I took his hand and used it as support as he spoke. "There were sirens and police cars last night. They left with someone in handcuffs. I'm pretty sure they arrested your dad. You're gonna be safe now."  
Hope grew inside me. A wide smile spread on my tear stained face, and I wrapped Hiro into a hug. He flinched for a moment, then gave in. Tadashi coughed awkwardly, and when I looked at him, he gestured to my arms. I looked at them and noticed my sleeves had rolled up. I quickly shoved my arms behind my back and began to leave the room.  
"Well, thanks for letting me sleep in here for the night, but I'm going to go and unpack my things."  
I raced down the stairs before anyone could stop me, and slammed the door to my room shut.  
" _Oh god... Mae, don't let Hiro see that."_  
But why? Why couldn't Hiro see the cuts on my arms? Did blood make him squeamish? Would he hate me if he knew?  
I walked over to my suitcase, when my phone rang again. I checked this time, and it was from the local police station.   
_Maybe they want to ask me some questions..._  
I sighed and answered.  
"Hello?"  
"Mae...!"   
I almost threw my phone against the wall. My father gets one phone call, able to call any person in the world, and he chooses to call _me?_ You've got to be kidding...  
"Dad," I growled, sudden strength filling my body. "What are you doing?"  
"Telling you that you've made a huge mistake. I'm out of here in a couple of days, and as soon as I am, I'm coming for you! I'm coming and I'm getting revenge. You better enjoy these next two days, because they'll be your last!"  
With that, the call got cut off. As I had been thinking, I threw my phone across the room, and it smashed against the wall, breaking into a million pieces. I became blinded by tears and fear. I raced to open my smaller suitcase, and found my bag of toiletries. (A/N- for those of you that don't know, toiletries are basically things like shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, ect.) I found my old razor, the one with the broken blades, and pulled it out. I loosened one of the blades and held it next to my arm. Before I could think, I ran it across my arm, slicing my delicate skin. I did this several more times, until my arm was coated in blood. I threw the razor blade across the room and began crying into my hands. Tears began to soak into my cuts, making them sting.   
"Mae?"  
The door opened and there stood Tadashi. He took in what was happening, and as soon as it processed, he ran up and scooped me into his arms.  
"Oh, Mae, what happened. Your dad's been caught, remember? Everything's okay."  
"No," I choked out. "H-he ca-call-called, a-and he-he said he-he's c-c-com-coming fo-for m-me."  
"Mae, that's crazy. He can't. He's locked away."  
"He-he's ge-get-getting ou-out in a cou-coup-couple o-of da-days..."  
"Oh god..."  
There was a pause where I cried even more. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep, right there in Tadashi's arms.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up, what felt like hours later, still in Tadashi's arms.  
"Tadashi," I murmured. "How long was I out?"  
"Oh, only a couple of minutes."  
I have almost no conception of time, people! I climbed out of Tadashi's arms and stood up, trying to make sense of what had happened. My father had called, threatened me, and then I'd-  
Oh...  
"Tadashi, did I..." I trailed off as I looked at my arms, fresh wounds across them. I buried my head in my healing hands and spoke.  
"I'm such an idiot."  
I heard Tadashi stand.  
"Mae, you're not an idiot. We just... need to find something else to take your mind off of this. How about I go get Hiro, and we... I don't know, maybe just go around town."  
I nodded solemnly, my father's threatening words sticking in my mind.  
"Just remember," Tadashi sighed, leaving my room. "Wear long sleeves."  
"But it's summer, Tadashi."  
"Then wear shorts, too."  
I huffed as Tadashi shut my bedroom door behind him, and I rushed to change. I threw on a blue long sleeved shirt and some shorts, along with a pair of flip-flops. I grabbed my purse and left my room. Hiro and Tadashi were waiting in the living room, and I smiled at them.  
"You ready?" Tadashi asked.  
I nodded, and Hiro wrapped an arm around my shoulder as we walked out.  
  
"I'm pretty sure you're the only girl I know who doesn't like shopping," Hiro laughed.  
"Well, it's not that I don't like it, it's more that I've really never gone. I didn't have a sister, and my dad really never let me leave the house. All my clothes are all presents and things my father finds."  
"I think we should change that," Tadashi smirks.  
"I don't think I've ever seen two boys so eager to take a girl shopping!" I teased.  
"As long as you don't take long." Tadashi handed Hiro a wad of cash. "Use this. I'll be next door if you guys need me."  
I looked at the store next to this one, and saw it was a video game store.  
"But _Tadashi_..." I whined.  
"No buts! Now go."  
Hiro took my hand and led me into the store. I had to admit, it looked really nice. It was a small boutique that was mostly made up of.. dresses. Oh boy.  
"Hiro, I don't really do dresses..."  
"Oh, come on, Mae," Hiro sighed. "Let me get you _something_!"  
"Fine," I huffed. I began rummaging through shelves, and eventually found a nice black dress I liked. It was knee length with spaghetti straps and grey polka dots. I went to try it on, and it fit perfectly. I walked out to show Hiro.  
"What do you think of this?"  
He looked up from his phone, and his breath caught.  
"Wow, Mae... You look... wow."  
I giggled at his short word choice.  
"It's only fifteen dollars, too!"  
"Nice! Tadashi gave me thirty, so if you want something else, go ahead..."  
"No, that's okay. This is really all I need..."  
"I may or may not have found something..."  
"Fine," I huffed, pretending to be frustrated, "let me see."  
Hiro pulled out a dress he's had folded behind him. It had a light blue, denim looking top, and the bottom was made of cream colored lace. I grabbed it and walked into the changing room. It fit perfectly. I guessed I was getting two dresses. I walked out, holding both, and Hiro payed. We walked out and met with Tadashi, heading home.


	7. Chapter 7

We walked up to Hiro and Tadashi's room, talking and laughing. Hiro and I flopped onto his bed, and Tadashi sat on his. Everything was fine, until Hiro asked the wrong question.  
"Mae, how on Earth do you wear long sleeves in this summer weather?"  
Tadashi and I froze and glanced at each other. Luckily, an idea quickly sparked in my mind.  
"Besides that tank top I own, I only have long sleeved shirts."  
"Oh... why didn't you say anything? I could have..."  
"No!" I caught myself. "I-I mean, it's fine. I can live."  
An awkward silence fell, like a soft snow on us. We all seemed to stare in a broken triangle shape: me at Hiro, Hiro at Tadashi, and Tadashi at me.  
"Sorry for lashing out like that, Hiro," I murmured.   
"It's okay..." He looked up at his brother. "Hey, Tadashi, could you give us a minute?"  
"Hm? Oh yeah, sure. I'll be downstairs."   
Tadashi got up and shut the door, and Hiro turned to look back at me. I thought he was gonna speak, but instead, he grabbed my arms and yanked up the sleeves.  
"Hey-!" I cried.  
"Mae, why?" He asked. His eyes looked broken.  
"How'd you know?"  
"I noticed when you came out in that dress. I saw them all up and down your arms. It scared me. And why do some of them look fresh?"  
"Tadashi didn't tell you?"  
Hiro shook his head, his wild black hair flying. I sighed.  
"My father's coming for me."  
"What? Mae, I think you're going a little crazy. Your father's locked up. And between the domestic child abuse and illegal drugs, he should be locked up for a long time."  
"Yeah, he should be. But just this morning, he said he'll be out in a couple of days, and that these next two will be my last. I think he was threatening to kill me."  
Hiro pulled me into a tight hug.  
"Mae, I promise, he can't hurt you. But you _have_ to trust Tadashi and I." He pulled away and looked me in my violet eyes. "And you have to stop doing this." He touched my arm scars. I shook my head.  
"Hiro, it doesn't work like that. Someone can't just tell you to stop, and it happens. It takes a while. And even then, it's hard for us to just stop."  
Hiro sighed.  
"At least _try._ For me?"  
I caved.  
"Fine. I can try. But it'll be hard."  
Hiro hugged me, and lightly rocked me back and forth. I soon fell asleep in his arms.  
I've got to stop making a habit of doing of that.


	8. Chapter 8

_"Mommy, mommy! Look what I found!"_  
_Four year old me stretched out her arm, showing a tiny butterfly shell. We were at the beach for two weeks on vacation. My reddish-brown hair was tied into a ponytail, and I was wearing a ruffled, light blue one piece bathing suit. My beautiful mother, who had eyes like mine, bent down and looked at the shell. It was yellow with pink edges._  
_"Wow, Mae," she smiled. "It's beautiful."_  
_My father came up behind my mother._  
_"What could possibly be more beautiful than my two favorite girls?" He asked._  
_I smiled a goofy smile and showed the shell to my dad._  
_"Look what I found!"_  
_"Now, that's a pretty shell, but it's still not as beautiful as you two."_  
_I giggled and my mom took the shell to put up on the deck._  
_That was the last time any of us were happy._  
  
I woke up to distant yelling from downstairs. I looked down to see myself curled up on Hiro's bed. I sat up, head spinning a bit, and began walking downstairs, when I was met by Hiro and Tadashi at their door.  
"Oh, hi Mae," Hiro greeted sheepishly.  
"What was that all about? I heard Aunt Cass yelling."  
"Oh... nothing." Hiro avoided my eyes as he walked past and sat down at his desk. I followed, noticing it was dark outside now, and spun Hiro around in his chair.  
"Don't lie to me, Hamada. It won't go down well."  
Hiro huffed, but caved.  
"Fine. I was out Bot Fighting, alright?"  
"Bot Fighting?" I shouted. "Isn't that illegal?"  
"No."  
"Yes," Tadashi chimed in.  
"Hey, no one asked for your input," Hiro shot back.  
Hiro turned back to his computer, and I noticed he was researching more Bot Fights. I rolled my eyes and plopped back down on his bed.  
"You're gonna have to find a way to make it up to Aunt Cass before she eats the whole cafe," Tadashi laughed.  
"Mm hmm," Hiro responded absentmindedly.  
"And I hope you learned your lesson, bonehead."  
"Yeah, for sure."  
Tadashi, suspicious, walked over and spun Hiro's chair around, getting a clear view of his desktop.  
"You're going Bot Fighting, aren't you?"  
"There's a fight across town. I can still make it." Hiro got up and grabbed a small, black robot. Tadashi walked after him and snatched him by the hood. Hiro stopped and turned around to face his brother.  
"When are you gonna start doing something with that big brain of yours?" He asked, tapping Hiro's head.  
"What? Go to college like you? So people can tell me stuff I already know?"  
"Unbelievable." Tadashi buried his head in his hands, frustrated. "Oh, what would mom and dad say?"  
"I don't know. They died when I was three, remember?"  
I _did_ remember. Hiro had cried, screaming 'where are mommy and daddy?' I had stood there, not understanding what was happening. I was three. How was I supposed to know what death was?  
Hiro began to walk away, when Tadashi tossed him his helmet. He walked up next to him and shoved his brother's head.  
"I'll take you."  
"What?"  
"I can't stop you from going, but I don't want you going alone. I'll take you." He turned to me. "Mae, maybe you should come too."  
"Why would I want to-"  
Tadashi whispered something in my ear that changed my mind.  
"Alright, let's go."  
Hiro gave me a confused look as I headed out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

"What are we doing at your nerd school?" Hiro yelled as Tadashi pulled up to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. "Bot Fight's that way!" Hiro pointed in the opposite direction we were going. Tadashi climbed off his moped, then Hiro, who helped me off. We walked up to the doors, and a cool blast of air conditioning slapped me in the face as Tadashi opened the door. We stepped into the sleek, grey and white building.

"I just need to pick something up," Tadashi assured his brother. "I'll only be a moment. Besides, you two have never seen my lab." Tadashi held the door open and we entered a new room.  
"Oh great. I get to see your nerd lab," Hiro sighed sarcastically.  
Just as we stepped in, a yellow blur whizzed past us. We both jumped back in self defense.  
"Watch out!" The person cried as they zoomed past. They stopped and hung up their bright yellow and purple bike, then walked away. My gaze averted to the left, and I was soon marveling at what I saw. In a word: science. Students were experimenting will all sorts of things, trying to perfect their projects. There were robots, cats with rocket boots, and people taking notes. Hiro and I walked as we took in all of this, eventually ending up where the person had hung up their bike. We side stepped and looked at the bike, which had wheels that, to my surprise, weren't attached to the bike. Hiro ran his hand through the gap and looked at me, amazed. We both broke into wide grins, but they faded when we heard a stern voice.  
"Hey!"  
Hiro and I turned to see the bike rider glaring at us, helmet still on.  
"Who are you two?"  
Hiro began to awkwardly back away when Tadashi stepped up. I noticed Hiro was holding that derpy robot he had built.  
"Gogo, this is my brother, Hiro, and this is Mae, our friend."  
The rider removed their helmet to reveal a girl, probably around nineteen years old, with short, black and purple hair and steely brown eyes. She blew a pink bubble with her gum and then popped it.  
"Welcome to the nerd lab," she greeted flatly. Hiro chuckled nervously and then spoke.  
"I-I've never seen ElectroMag suspension on a bike before."  
She twirled the pedal once, and the back wheel spun.  
"Zero resistance, faster bike." She took the wheel off. "But not fast enough." She tossed away the wheel, nearly hitting my face. It landed in a bin full of other rejected wheels. "Yet."  
Tadashi moved on, and we followed. Hiro and I were so engrossed with looking around that we didn't notice an experiment until a muscular, dark skinned man stopped us.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Behind the line, please." He pointed down to a yellow and black striped line, prompting Hiro and I to step back. Tadashi came up behind us and put a hand on my shoulder.  
"Hey, Wasabi," he greeted. "This is my brother, Hiro, and our friend, Mae."  
Wasabi lifted up the goggles he was wearing for a brief moment and smirked.  
"Hello Hiro, Mae. Prepare to be amazed." He stepped behind his device and held out his hand, revealing an apple. "Catch." He tossed the apple and both Hiro and I reached out to catch it, but the apple never came. Instead, it was cut into paper thin slices. Hiro caught one and held it in his hand. I looked at it in awe.  
"Whoa," I whispered. Wasabi turned a knob and thin green and blue lasers appeared between two beams. Wasabi walked over to a red tool table.  
"Laser induced plasma," Hiro marveled.  
"Oh yeah. With a little magnetic confinement for ultra precision."  
Hiro and I looked at the table, which had outlines for every tool he owned. I picked up a magnifying glass and looked at it.  
"Wow. How do you find anything in this mess?" I joked.  
"Ah, ah, ah." Wasabi took the magnifying glass from my hand and put it back in its place. "I have a system: there's a place for everything, and everything's in its place."  
Just then, Gogo rushed in and hastily snatched a tool off Wasabi's table, scattering everything.  
"Need this!" She cried, racing off.  
"You can't do that!" Wasabi yelled, chasing after her. "This is anarchy! Society has rules."  
I was about to move on when I heard an odd rumbling, and was almost barreled over by a tall blonde girl rolling a large black ball.  
"Excuse me! Coming through!"  
We followed her into a perfect chemistry area. She leaned over the sphere and smiled at us.  
"Tadashi!" She cried. She then noticed Hiro and I and climbed down. "Oh my gosh, you must be Hiro." She got close to his face, "I've heard so much about you!" She yelled. She removed her earbuds and looked at me. "And whose this?"  
"This is Mae. She's an old friend of our's. How she got here... I'll tell you later."  
She grabbed Hiro and I by the shoulders and led us to the large black ball. As she secured it in place, Hiro and I got a closer look at it, and determined what it was.  
"That's a whole lot of Tungsten Carbide," I smiled.  
"Four hundred pounds of it!" The girl squealed. "Oh, come here, come here! You're gonna love this." She grabbed Hiro and I by our wrists and dragged us to her white table, filled with different materials meant for mixing chemicals. "A dash of Perchloric Acid." She turned a knob and some green liquid traveled through a spiral tube. "A smidge of Cobalt." Another knob released a single drop of dark blue liquid. "A hint of Hydrogen Peroxide." A final knob released yellow liquid into an odd sphere, obviously meant for spraying things. "Super heated to five hundred Kelvin." Hiro and I jumped back as she used a blowtorch to heat the sphere. "And..." She picked up the sphere with an airbrush attachment and began spraying a pink mist onto the Carbide. It surrounded the sphere like a cloud until the girl slipped a switch and the cloud fused to the sphere.  
"It's so... pink," Hiro sighed.  
"Here's the best part!" The girl poked the sphere with her finger and the sphere exploded in a cloud of pink. She turned around and was coated in bright pink powder.  
"Whoa," Hiro and I both smiled.  
"I know, right?" She chuckled as she removed her glasses and brushed off the powder. "Chemical-metal embrittlement."  
"Not bad, Honey Lemon," Tadashi smiled as he walked over.  
"Honey Lemon?" I asked. "Gogo? Wasabi?"  
"I spill Wasabi on my shirt one time, people!" Wasabi raged as he passed behind us. "One time!"  
Hiro and I giggled at Wasabi's little fit.  
"Fred's the one who comes up with the nicknames," Tadashi informed us.  
"Whose Fred?"  
"This guy!" A muffled voice called.  
Hiro and I turned around and cried out. There was an odd monster like thing standing there, right in out faces.  
"Uh uh, don't be alarmed. This is not my actual face and body. This is just a suit." A tall boy stuck his hand and head out of the mouth.  
"The name's Fred." He stuck his arm out, and Hiro and I shook his hand, mine more cautious than Hiro's. He put his arm back in the sleeve. "School mascot by day, but by night..." He did some fancy sign tricks and the hood fell off. "...I am also the school mascot." I rolled my eyes and Hiro and I followed him to a big, plushy, red chair, where he sat down.   
"So, what's your major?" I asked.  
"Oh, no. I'm not a student. But I am a _major_ science enthusiast. I've been trying to get Honey to develop a formula that can turn me into a fire-breathing lizard at will. But she says that's 'not science.'"  
"It's really not," Honey Lemon sighed as she made her way over to us.  
"Yeah. And I guess the shrink ray I asked Wasabi for isn't science either."  
"Nope." Wasabi and Gogo had come over now.  
"Okay, how about an invisible sandwich?"  
"Hiro, Mae."  
Hiro and I turned around to see Tadashi gesture for us to follow him. We did so, leaving the group behind.


	10. Chapter 10

"So, Tadashi," I smiled, entering his lab, "what have you been working on all these years?"  
"Why don't I show you?"  
Tadashi turned around and pulled out a roll of duck tape.  
"Duck tape?" Hiro sighed. "Hate to break it to you bro, but that's already been invented."  
Tadashi pulled off a large strip, ripped it off with his teeth, and attached it to Hiro's arm.  
"What are you-"  
Before I could finish, Tadashi quickly ripped the duck tape of Hiro's arm, leaving a red mark.  
"Oh!" Hiro cried, shocked. "Ow! Dude!"  
I took Hiro's arm in my hand, and examined the irritation, until we heard an odd beeping, and a noise sounding like something inflating. We both looked in front of us to see a giant, inflatable white thing that kind of reminded me of the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. We stared at it in awe as it attempted to make its way over to us. It squeaked as it made its was over, but was stopped by a stool. It looked down at it, blinking its shiny, black eyes, then picked it up in its puffy arms. It looked left and right, trying to find a place to put it down, and finally settled on putting it down about a foot to its left. It finally made its way over to us, and moved its hand in a circular motion, simulating some sort of wave.  
"Hello," it said in a monotone, vague voice, "I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted of your need for medical attention when you said 'ow.'" Tadashi mouthed the last word with Baymax.  
"A robotic... nurse..." Hiro stated uncertainly.  
"On a scale from one to ten, how would you rate your pain?" Cartoon faces appeared on Baymax's stomach.  
"Physical, or emotional?" Hiro looked over Baymax's shoulder at Tadashi, who made a mock sad face, making me laugh.  
"I will scan you for injuries." Baymax scanned Hiro up and down quickly, then made a diagnosis. "You have a slight epidermal abrasion on you forearm. I suggest an antibacterial spray." He stuck out his index finger, obviously with a nozzle, but stopped when Hiro spoke.  
"Hold on. What's in the spray?" He asked.  
"The main ingredient id Bacitracin." A molecule map of Bacitracin appeared on Baymax's stomach.  
"Oh, that's a bummer. I'm actually allergic to Bacitracin..."  
"You are not allergic to Bacitracin. You do have a mild allergy to peanuts."  
"Nice." Baymax sprayed Hiro's arm. "You've done some serious coding on thing."  
"Yup. Programmed with over ten thousand medical procedures. This chip is what makes Baymax, Baymax." Tadashi tapped Baymax's access port, and a small port emerged and showed a green chip. He then pushed it back in, and Baymax stood there, letting Hiro examine him.  
"Vinyl?"   
"Yeah. I was going for a non-threatening, huggable design."  
"It looks like I walking marshmallow," I smiled. "No offense."  
"I am a robot," Baymax cut in. "I cannot be offended."  
Hiro got up close to Baymax's camera and I snickered at how he was acting.  
"Hyper spectral cameras..."   
Hiro stared at Baymax for a moment, then dug his face into Baymax's stomach. I giggled as his muffled voice reached my ears.  
"Titanium skeleton."  
"Carbon fiber," Tadashi corrected.  
"Right... even lighter. Killer actuators! Where did you get those?"  
"Oh I machined them right here, in house."   
Hiro pulled his face out of Baymax.  
"No way!"  
"Yeah. He can lift up to one thousand pounds."  
"Shut up," Hiro and I marveled at the same time.  
"You have been a good boy," Baymax stated. "Have a lollipop."  
Baymax pulled out a red lollipop and handed it to Hiro.  
"Nice," Hiro smiled, popping it in his mouth. Hiro didn't seem to question it, but all I was thinking was _where did he get that lollipop?_ "I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care."  
"Well then, I'm satisfied with my care."  
Baymax waddled over to his sleek, red charging station and began to deflate.  
"What kind of battery does he operate on?" I asked.  
"Lithium ion."  
"You know, super capacitors would charge faster."  
"Ah."  
"Burning the midnight oil, Mister Hamada?"  
Hiro, Tadashi, and I turned to see an old man peeking his head through the door to Tadashi's lab. He looked vaguely familliar, but I couldn't quite pinpoint the connection.  
"Oh, hey professor. I was actually just closing up."  
Tadashi's professor looked at Hiro and I.  
"You must be Hiro. Bot Fighter, right?" Hiro nodded. "When my daughter was younger, that's all she wanted to do." His professor looked at me. "And who's this?"  
"Ah, this is Mae. She lived near us when we were younger, then she moved away, and now she's back."  
"I see. You have an interest in any of this?"  
"It fascinates me," I answered honestly, "but I'm more into literature. I graduated early for it."  
His professor nodded and turned his attention back to Hiro, who was holding his robot in his hands.  
"May I?" He asked, gesturing to the robot.  
"Oh, sure." Hiro handed the robot to the professor, who inspected it thoroughly.   
"Hmm. Magnetic-bearing servos." Tadashi's professor began to walk out, and Hiro and I followed.  
"Yeah. Pretty sick, huh? Wanna see how I put them together?"  
There was a knock on the window, and Hiro and I turned to see Tadashi.  
"Hey, genius. He invented them."  
That's when it clicked. I knew _exactly_ who he was.  
"You're... Robert Callaghan," I gaped. "As in, the Callaghan Catmos Blind (A/N I have no idea what he's actually saying. This is what it sounded like. Correct me if I'm wrong, please!), and Callaghan's Laws of Robotics!"  
"That's right," he smiled at me. He handed Hiro back his robot and spoke to him. "Ever think about applying here? Your age wouldn't be an issue."  
"I don't know," Tadashi sighed, exiting his now dark lab. "He's pretty serious about his career in Bot Fighting." Tadashi walked towards an elevator with Callaghan, and Hiro and I followed.  
"Well, k-kind of serious," Hiro stuttered. I rolled my eyes at the mention of Bot Fighting.  
"I can see why. With you bot, winning must come easy."  
"Yeah, I guess." We finally made it to the elevator, and Mr. Callaghan pushed the down button. Tadashi entered first, then me, and finally, Hiro.  
"Well, if you like things easy, then my program isn't for you. My students push the boundaries of robotics here. They go on to shape the future." The doors began to close. "Nice meeting you Mae, Hiro. Good luck with the Bot Fights."


	11. Chapter 11

"We gotta hurry if you want to catch that Bot Fight."  
Tadashi revved up the engine of his moped, looking at Hiro. He was just staring at the building, seemingly lost in thought. I sat on the helmet compartment, waiting to leave.  
"Come on, Hiro," I sighed.  
"I _have_ to go here. I-if I don't go to this nerd school, I'm gonna lose my mind! How do I get in?"  
"Tadahi looked back at me with an 'I was right' look on his face. I rolled my eyes and tossed Hiro his helmet, who climbed on between Tadashi and I. I slipped my arms around his waist, and he seemed to warm up to my touch, but I discarded that. We drove home, and as soon as the three of us got up to Hiro and Tadashi's room, Hiro pounded Tadashi with that question.  
"Okay, Tadashi! How do I get in?"  
Tadashi chuckled.  
"Hiro, it's late. I'm tired, I'm sure Mae's tired, and you should be, too. I'll help you out in the morning." Tadashi closed the barrier between his and Hiro's sides of the room so he could change. I hugged Hiro.  
"Night, Hiro. Try to get some sleep, alright?"  
Hiro sighed and nodded, and with that satisfaction in mind, I walked out, into my room, changed into pajamas, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.  
  
"Mae," a voice hissed in my ear.  
I shot up, nearly knocking the person in the face. They shot up straight and avoided getting hit.  
"Hey! Watch out, Mae."  
I groped at the table beside my head until I found a light switch. The person was still a blurry blob, but I was able to figure out that it was Hiro.  
"Hiro? What are you doing? It's..." I looked over at the clock, but couldn't read the time. "...a time that's in the middle of the night."  
"Here." Hiro reached over to my side table and put my black glasses on my eyes. I normally wore contacts, but every now and then I wore these. "Wow, Mae. You look good with glasses."  
I giggled.  
"Thanks, Hiro. Anyways, what are you doing in my room at... two-thirty in the morning?"  
"I-I couldn't sleep. I'm too excited. I really want to get into this school. I can't wait to find out how."  
I sighed and patted the spot on my bed next to me, and Hiro sat down.  
"I'm sure, whatever it is, you'll do great, and I know you'll get in."  
"Really?"  
I nodded. There was a brief silence, and then my phone rang.  
"Oh, hold on, Hiro."  
I looked at the screen, and saw it was the police station. Hiro looked over and saw, and his eyes went wide.  
"Mae, don't."  
"I have to," I sighed. "He already got his phone call. It's most likely the _actual_ police."  
I slid the little green icon to answer, and held the phone to my ear.  
"Hello?"  
"Miss Mae Rouge?"  
"This is she."  
"Ms. Rouge, we're very sorry, but your father has somehow escaped."  
"What?" I stood up on my bed, shocked.  
"We're not sure how, but it seems he escaped only a few moments ago."  
"No, no, no, no!"  
"We apologize. We'll try our best to catch him, but we can't promise that we will."  
"Ah-alright... thank you, officer."  
"Have a good night."  
I took my phone, looked at it for a moment, then angrily chucked it against the wall. The screen shattered, and my phone fell to the ground. Tears rushed down my face, fast, and I crumpled onto my bed. I felt strong arms wrap around me, and when I looked up from my tears, I saw Hiro holding me close.  
"H-Hiro..." I choked out.  
"I know, Mae. I know. Don't worry. They'll find him. I know they will."  
"I-I-I-" was all I could choke out.  
I cried and cried, feeling alone and afraid, and I couldn't stop. Eventually, Hiro put a hand over my mouth and made me look at him.  
"Mae, everything's going to be fine."  
"Hiro..." I pushed his hand away. "...I don't feel safe. Ca-can you slee-sleep i-in he-here to-ton-toni-tonigh-tonight?"  
Hiro smiled down at me.  
"Yeah, sure, Mae."  
Hiro removed my glasses and put them on the side table. He then put me under the covers, and he followed. Finally he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and I fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

I blinked my eyes open and found myself staring eye to eye with Hiro. He smiled a little bit, and I rolled my eyes with a smirk stretched across my lips.  
"Hiro, how long have you been up?"  
"Oh, probably about an hour."  
"What?" I pushed up and away from his arms. "Then why'd you stay in here?"  
"I wanted to wait for you to wake up."  
Hiro climbed out of bed, and I followed, putting my glasses on my face.  
"Hey, Mae, how come I've never seen you wear those glasses before?"  
I sighed.  
"I normally wear contacts. But these glasses have started to grow on me," I smiled.  
We walked out of the room and a memory sparked in my mind.  
"Hiro! Tadashi said he's tell you how to get into nerd school today!" Hiro snickered at the nickname he'd given the school, and then practically sprinted up to Tadashi's room. I grabbed him by the arm, however, to stop him.  
"Whoa, Secretariat! Let's eat _something_ first." Hiro smiled at my nickname for him, and still persisted on.  
"You bring up something, and I'll talk to Tadashi."  
I sighed and went into the kitchen, rummaging around for some food ingredients. I dug up some eggs and bacon, and decided to make that. I cracked the eggs into a bowl and poured in a little bit of milk; something my father had taught me, before he'd gone crazy. I put the eggs into one pan, and the bacon into another, keeping a close watch. I tossed and turned the eggs, scrambling them. Soon, they were both done, and I plated three servings and carried two of them up to Hiro and Tadashi's room. I walked in and they both noticed the food and smiled. I handed Hiro a plate, then Tadashi.  
"Mae, did you make this?" Tadashi asked.  
"Yeah. My dad taught me how, before all this stuff happened."  
"Well, your dad was an excellent cook, so this should be amazing."  
I sighed.  
"I hope so. I'll be back with my plate and some forks."  
I did that, and when I walked back upstairs, Hiro was sketching in his notebook, and Tadashi was getting ready to go somewhere. I handed him a fork and he quickly downed his eggs. After that, he grabbed a bag and pulled on his shoes.  
"I'm heading off to the lab. I'll see you guys later."  
I sighed and looked back at Hiro.  
"Mae, you wanna come?"  
"What? Uh, yeah, sure."  
Hiro looked up at me.  
"Mae," he fake whined. I tapped his head, simulating a smack.  
"I'll be back tonight. I want to give you some time to yourself to work. Call me if you need any- oh, right..." I remembered what I'd done last night to my phone.  
"What?"  
"Heh... I kinda broke my phone last night."  
Tadashi face palmed, and Hiro pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. I looked down and saw that it was his phone.  
"I'll use the house phone if I need anything. Just use this for now."  
"Thanks. I've got insurance, so I might go to replace it later."  
"I can take you on our way home. I just want to go check on the gang."  
"Alright, let's go!" I hugged Hiro from behind. "I'll see you later. Don't let your brain blow up."  
Hiro laughed and I went to go change. I threw on a black tank top and a dark blue denim skirt. I ran a brush through my hair real quick, then walked out to meet Tadashi, who handed me Hiro's helmet.  
"Thanks," I smiled,  
"Let's go."


	13. Chapter 13

As soon as we entered the lab, we were surrounded by the gang. Honey Lemon and Gogo stuck closer to me, and Fred and Wasabi were with Tadashi. After some rushed hellos, Honey Lemon and Gogo rushed me away from the group. Honey looked at me with giddy, almost crazy, eyes, where as Gogo just looked at me with a slightly welcoming expression. Honey bounced on her, very high, green heels as she spoke.  
"So, what's the deal with you and Hiro?" She squealed.  
"What? Me and Hiro? Honey Lemon, that's not a thing!' I sighed.  
"Just let her talk," Gogo groaned. "She hasn't shut up about it since last night..."  
"Are you kidding me?"  
"Nope!" Honey smiled. "I mean, it's so obvious he likes you! He's always next to you, and whenever he looks at you, it's always with this really sweet smile!"  
I face palmed.  
"Honey Lemon! Get ahold of yourself!" I would have shaken her shoulders, but she was way taller than me. "I haven't lived in this town since I was six. I've come back for a reason, but that reason is not Hiro! I've been here for two days! You _cannot_ fall in love with someone in two days!"  
"Yes, you _totally_ can." Her smile seemed plastered to her face.  
"What's the real reason you're here, then?" Gogo asked.  
I froze. Gogo, much like Hiro, seems to ask the right questions at the wrong time. Honey Lemon looked at me quizzically, and Gogo shifted positions, waiting. I took a deep breath and spoke.  
"Okay. I used to live here when I was younger. In fact, San Fransokyo is my home town. But when I was six, my mom left my family, and my dad wanted to get as far away from the memories of her as he could. Then, things got bad. After we moved to Oregon, my dad got _really_ addicted to drugs, like, illegal drugs, and alcohol. Aunt Cass gave me an envelope with money so I could leave when I got old enough. I did, and now I'm here."  
They both stared at me, blinking, for a minute, then Gogo pulled me into a hug, and Honey followed.  
"Mae..." Honey Lemon sighed. Before she could finish, I held up my hand.  
"Don't. I've had thousands of people apologize to me, and to be honest, I'm getting really sick of it."  
Honey nodded and moved on.  
"Anyways, I _have_ to give you my number! Here, hand me your phone."  
I blushed.  
"Uh... I kinda don't have my phone with me. This is Hiro's." I held up the black phone that had been in my jacket pocket.  
"Oh, ok. Well, give me your arm! I'll write it down!"  
"Uh...."  
Before I could stop her, Honey Lemon grabbed my arm and rolled up the sleeve. I took her a moment to register what she was looking at, but as soon as she did, she dropped my arm and stepped back.  
"Oh my god... Mae... why, why would you..."  
"You try living in my world for two minutes. You'll go mad. I did this because there didn't seemed like a better option for two years."  
Gogo and Honey Lemon just looked at me with wide eyes, shocked that I'd crossed that line. There were no comforting hugs, no apologies, just pure and utter shock. And I don't blame them. This was something people often think is just something people do for attention, or draw on their arms when they're bored. When you actually see it on a person because their life has hit that low point, it's shocking, even scary. I expected them to be mad at me, but instead they looked at me and smiled.  
"Don't worry, Mae," Gogo sighed. "You're here now. Everything's going to get better."  
"Yeah, it is," I lied. I decided not to tell them about my father getting out of jail and coming for me. _That_ would seal the 'Mae's Crazy' deal.  
"Hey, Mae."  
I looked behind me to see Tadashi.  
"We should get going. I'm sure Hiro's got something to show us."  
I nodded.  
"I'll ask Tadashi for your numbers later, when I get a new phone, okay?"  
"Okay!" Honey Lemon smiled, all bubbly again.  
"Sure," Gogo shrugged.  
"I'll see you guys some time soon!"  
I waved and Tadashi led me out. We climbed onto his moped and drove off to get my new phone.


	14. Chapter 14

It was almost nighttime when Tadashi and I got back. I was texting Honey Lemon as we walked through the door. Tadashi knocked me on the head and I looked up.  
"What?" I sighed.  
"You've been texting Honey Lemon since we got your phone. What on Earth could you two be talking about for almost six hours?"  
"Uh..."  
My phone buzzed and I looked down.  
_**Honey Lemon: Just tell Tadashi!** **He won't judge! I promise!**_  
I looked up and rolled my eyes.  
"Nothing," I sighed. "She's just trying to give me advice on something I really don't need advice on."  
"What's that?"  
I laughed.  
"My non-existent love life."  
Tadashi just gave me a look like I was crazy, and just walked upstairs. I took off my sneakers and followed him up. I unlocked my phone and sat down on Hiro's bed as I replied.  
_**Mae: Ha, ha, ha! You're hilarious. As much as I trust Tadashi, I don't like Hiro in that way, so telling him is totally pointless.**_  
I sighed, frustrated, looked up, and raised an eyebrow. Hiro was surrounded by hundreds of crumpled pieces of paper, and was furiously scribbling in his notebook. He sighed and threw another piece into the pile. I was startled, and jumped a little, when Hiro began banging his head against his desk.   
"Nothing!" He cried between pounds. "No ideas! Useless... empty... brain!"  
"Wow. Washed up at fourteen," Tadashi sighed, sarcasm lacing his voice. "So sad."  
"I've got nothing!" He sat back and ran a hand through his messy black hair. "I'm never getting in!"  
Tadshi stood and walked over and spun Hiro around, looking him in the eyes.   
"Hey. I'm not giving up on you."  
Tadashi grabbed his brother by the ankles and yanked him off his chair. Tadashi jumped around and shook Hiro, and I was laughing my head off.  
"Gah!" Hiro cried. "What are you doing?"  
"Shake things up!" Tadashi smiled. "Use that big brain of yours to think your way around the problem!"  
"This... is... ridiculous!"  
Hiro sighed, but stopped his struggling and looked at something on his desk, tilting his head. I followed his gaze and rested on his robot. I couldn't quite follow what he was thinking, but it was clearly the solution he was looking for.  
"I think I've got it!" Hiro smiled.  
Tadashi out his brother down and settled back onto his bed on his side of the room. I smiled at Hiro as he sat down and began sketching. After a while, I yawned, and my head spun a little bit. I sighed and stood up.  
"Alright. I'm going to sleep. I'll see you two in the morning."  
Hiro stood and pulled me into a hug. It startled me at first, but I quickly relaxed into it. Hiro let go, and after an awkward cough from Tadashi and a glare from me, I descended the stairs into my room, changed, and fell asleep, mind far from my father.  
But all that would change soon.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another trigger warning! Suggestive comments/themes that could potentially be triggering to some people. Reader discretion is advised

I woke up at some odd time to knocking on the front door. I groped around and found my glasses, slipping them onto my face. The knocking continued and I got up, walking towards the door. I knew, deep down, that it was a bad idea to answer the door in the middle of the night, but, as I just mentioned, it was also the middle of the night, so clearly my head was not working. I walked over and opened the door, but saw nothing. I looked left, right, and down, but saw nothing. I shrugged, and was about to close the door, when a rough, gloved arm reached out and grabbed me around my neck, clamping a hand over my mouth. I thrashed and kicked, trying to break free. The figure dragged me out of the house and shut the door. I managed to get one of my legs in a position where I was able to kick the figure on their shin. I thought that had made an effect, when I felt something slam down on my head, and after a brief moment of pain, everything went dark.  
  
  
I could feel myself coming to, and I blinked open my violet eyes. My glasses were still on my face, but they had been broken, and the left lens was shattered. I tried to stand, but I was tied to a chair. I looked around, but I couldn't really see where I was. I tried to wiggle out of the ropes, but to no avail. I soon heard footsteps and stopped struggling. The figure was only visible through my right eye, but I knew exactly who it was.  
"Dad!' I shrieked. "What are you doing?"  
He sauntered up to me, clearly drunk, and got right in my face. His breath smelled of the retched stench of beer as he spoke.  
"You kept running away, Mae. I had to keep you here."  
"No! Dad, why?! Why are you doing this?!"  
"I have someone who wants to meet you."  
My dad moved away and beckoned to someone. They entered the circle of light, and I saw it was a person about my age. But other than that, the details seemed blurred. He approached my chair and sat down, right on my lap, facing me. He pulled me into a rough, drunken kiss, and then smirked at me. He moved his hands from my cheeks down to my waist. He slowly began untying the ropes, but pinned me down with one arm.  
"Now... let's begin."  
  
I woke up again, what felt like years later. I was lying on the ground, retied to the chair. My glasses were who knows where, and my mind was foggy.  
_Come on, Mae. Think! You went to answer the door, someone kidnapped you, that someone turned out to be your dad. You woke up, tied to a chair, your dad introduced you to someone, he kissed you, and then..._  
_Oh.... oh gods..._  
I struggled and fought, but instead of trying to get out of the chair, I was trying to reach for my phone. I worked my hand into my back pocket, and finally, _finally,_ reached my phone and got it. I struggled to bring it out to my vision, unlocked it, typed in a number, and raised it to my ear the best that I could. It rang once, twice, three times, four times, five...   
I was just about to hang up when someone answered.  
"Mae?! Mae?!"  
"Hiro! It's me!"  
"Mae, where are you? I heard you scream, and when I went downstairs, you were gone!"  
"Hiro... I have no idea where I am! My... my dad, h-he kidnapped me." I tried not to cry, but it was so hard. "I woke up, tied to a chair, and there was this boy, and he... and he..."  
"He what?"  
I paused.  
"I'd rather not say..."  
Hiro seemed to pick up on what I was saying.  
"Oh my god... Mae..."  
"Don't. Don't apologize. It's not your fault."  
There was a brief pause, and then a new voice spoke.  
"Mae? Mae, it's Tadashi! Your phone has a tracker on it. We're coming to get you, okay?"  
"Yes! Yes! Oh gods, thank you, Tadashi!" I was crying I mix of happy and sad tears now.  
"Just stay where you are and we'll come get you."  
Hiro's was the last voice I heard.  
"Don't worry, Mae. We're going to find you. I promise."  
I hung up and let myself cry.


	16. Chapter 16

I sat in the everlasting darkness, alone, waiting for Hiro and Tadashi's rescue. I was crying on the inside and out, hanging on to a faint thread of hope. The clock was ticking away behind me, but I couldn't see the time. My mind and vision were blurry.  
_Hiro..._ _Goddammit Hiro! Please, please!_ I thought. _Come quickly! Hurry, before my dad-_  
As if my thoughts were being read, I heard the door behind me slam open. The string of hope got thicker.  
"Hiro? Tadashi? Is that you?"  
"Mae!"  
That was _not_ the voice I wanted to hear at all. My father came around the edge of the chair and looked me in the eyes. I swallowed, hard, pushing down my fear.  
"Why were you asking for the Hamada boys?" He hissed.  
"Oh, uh... no reason..."  
My father slapped my left cheek. The spot where he hit tingled like someone was brushing feathers across my cheek. I wanted to put my hand on the welt, but my arms and, as a result, my hands, were tied down.  
"You will tell me, Mae Lily Rouge! Do you hear me? _You will answer me!"_  
"No!" I screamed, bravery building in me, though the string of hope was fraying. "You out me through abuse and neglect for eight years! You literally _just_ let me get raped! You sat there and fricking _watched!_ That is not good parenting! I left because you are a horrible person, and you deserve to live alone and die a horrible death! _Do you hear me?!"_  
At that moment, the string of hope snapped. My father grabbed the chair and began dragging me away.  
"You just said the wrong thing at the wrong time, Mae! You're going to pay for what you've just said!"  
He dragged me into his room and dug around in a drawer. He pulled out a small box, and whipped out a tiny stick. I looked over and saw that he was holding a box of matches.  
"No, no, no, no, no!" I screamed.  
My dad was about to run the match along the sandpaper, when the door burst open, and there stood what I really wanted to see. Hiro, Tadashi, and Aunt Cass stood there, along with three armed police officers, and my face brightened. Hiro and Tadashi rushed over to me to help untie the ropes, while the police officers arrested my dad. They gave their long, boring arrest speech, and Hiro and Tadashi got the last rope undone. My legs were weak and I collapsed into Hiro's arms. He propped me up, and helped walk me over to Aunt Cass. The police dragged my father away, and Aunt Cass scooped me into her arms.  
"Oh! Oh, sweetie! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried!"  
She put me back down and I collapsed back into Hiro's arms.


	17. Chapter 17

As much as I wanted to be left alone, Hiro kept talking to me in the car. I tried to tune out his voice, but he was always there. Of course, it also didn't help that he would not let me go.  
"Mae, are you sure you're alright?"  
"Yes, Hiro. I'm fine. I'm in one piece, I'm mostly unharmed, and I'm not dead, alright?"  
"But that guy... Didn't he...?"  
"Yes, but what's past has passed."  
"But Mae..."  
"Hiro, just drop it," I hissed."  
"But your cheek..."  
I looked at him with a death glare.  
"What _about_ my cheek?"  
"It-it's got a red mark. In the exact same shape as a hand..."  
"Yeah, that's because my dad slapped me there. End of story, okay? Let's just drop the subject and forget it never happened."  
"But, Mae-"  
"Hiro," Tadashi sighed. "Mae's asked you to drop it, so just drop it, alright? She clearly doesn't want to talk about it."  
Hiro opened his mouth to protest, but then shut it, clearly not wanting to make me any angrier than I already was. I turned back to the matter I had been wondering about. I took out my phone from my back pocket and turned it on. The time read five thirty-seven a.m. I looked over at Hiro, then back out the window next to me. I put my phone back in my pocket and stared at the scenery passing by. No one spoke, and there wasn't even any music playing on the radio. I sat there, being slowly lulled to sleep by the gentle movement of the car, and the oddly soothing noise of the car's engine. The last thing I thought before I nodded off to sleep was the image of my father burned into my mind.  
  
_It's dark. Very dark. All that surrounds me is darkness. And I am no exception. There's one small mirror, and when I look at myself, I'm made of nothing but grey ashes. The only things that stand out are my violet eyes, piercing through the ash and dust. When I turn around, there's a small beam of light in the distance. I stand there, staring at it, when the beam speaks._  
_"Mae..." The voice is Hiro's. "Mae, I'm trying to help you. Please, come to me. Come to the light. You will be freed from your ashen state. If you let me protect you, you'll never have to be in danger again. I'll always protect you from harm."_  
_I opened my mouth to try to speak, but no words came out. I couldn't speak. Rather than dwelling on it, I began to run towards the light. I stopped short, however, when I noticed that with every step, more of my ashen self blows away. But my stubbornness takes over, and I rush towards the light. By the time I get there, however, all I am is a pair of violet eyes._  
_"Be careful, Mae," a new voice calls. "Your stubbornness will destroy you."_


	18. Chapter 18

I woke up hours later, feeling covers wrapped around me. My vision was blurry, since my glasses were now missing. I'd have to wear my contacts for the next few days, but I didn't mind. I could vaguely see the blob that I assumed was my window. There was bright light streaming through it, giving me the impression that it was the day. But what time was it? I couldn't read any clocks, so I had no way of knowing. Unless, of course, I asked. But I was too lazy to actually get up and ask.  
"Hiro!" I screamed, sounding like I was in trouble. Only a few seconds later, my door burst open, and a small blob stood looking at me.  
"Mae? What's wrong?"  
"Oh, nothing's wrong," I giggled. "I just want to know what time it is."  
I heard Hiro groan for making him worried, then do as I asked.  
"It's one thirty in the afternoon. Why?"  
"Last I remembered, I was in the car. So how did I get here?"  
"Oh. When we got home, Tadashi carried you and just kind of threw you into bed."  
I pulled back the covers and looked down at myself.  
"That explains why I'm still in my pajamas from last night."  
Hiro crossed the room and sat on the end of my bed, near me.  
"Mae," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes. "I am so sorry all this happened. I'm so sorry I couldn't fix it. I-I-"  
Tears began racing down his cheeks quickly. He buried his head in his hands and cried like a baby. I wanted to do something, hold his hand or hug him, but all I could do was just sit there, watching him cry. I was frozen to my place, guilt climbing up my throat, suddenly forming words.  
"Hiro, none of this is your fault. I was the one stupid enough to answer the door in the middle of the night. I should have remembered that."  
Hiro looked at me with shaking eyes. The guilt climbed back up, nearly spilling out of me. My instincts took over, and I lunged at Hiro, wrapping him into a hug. He hesitated for a moment, but then caved and wrapped his arms around me. He cried into my shoulder, and I snuggled closer to him. He cried for a long while, then he finally stopped. I pushed away and looked into his golden brown eyes.  
"You all good now?" I smiled.  
Hiro nodded, and I relaxed, despite the fact I knew this was far from over.


	19. Chapter 19

Hiro opened up the garage door and I smiled. He had completely transformed the seldom used room, and it was more like his personal lab now than anything else. Computers sat on messily organized desks, containing miscellaneous contraptions and inventions that Hiro had made. He even had an entire desk dedicated to blueprints.  
"Wow, Hiro," I breathed. "This is... so cool! Man, I wish I had a place like this for my writing back at home."  
"What, a smelly garage that you've slightly fixed so that it looks less like something out of a horror movie?" He teased.  
"No." My voice was as serious as my expression when I looked at him. "Somewhere far away from my father."  
Hiro didn't say anything, but placed a hand on my shoulder.  
"Maybe if I had been farther away from him, this never would have happened. If I had been in a room farther from him, he wouldn't have ever been sober enough to come and try to find me."  
"But where would that get you?" Hiro asked, making me look up. "You'd be cowering away in some dark, desolate room, sneaking in, out of, and around your house whenever you needed something. You'd still be neglected and abandoned." He took my chin in his fingers and made me look him in the eyes.  
"Mae, listen to me. You made the right decision coming here. I know some bad things have happened since you've come, but that's all over now, alright."  
I didn't want to believe Hiro. There was always another chapter in the stories, and all the books I've read ended with everyone not getting what they wanted. But I said what he wanted to, just so that he would get off my case.  
"Yeah, alright."  
I thought he was buying it, until he looked down at my arms. I was wearing sleeves again, which pretty much gave away what was happening.  
"Mae..."  
Before Hiro could grab my arm, I rushed off and slammed the door to my room, locking the door. I breathed heavily, trying not to cough as my broken lungs had a panic attack, then sunk to my knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. Everything was so wrong, and my whole life was just one horrible event after another. I curled up into a ball and collapsed onto the floor, hair of fire pooling around my head. I cried and cried, eyes slowly drying out, until there was a soft knock on my door.  
"Mae, can I come in?"  
I sniffled, and attempted to speak through my garbled voice and plugged nose.  
"No." The answer was simple, but it was all I could choke out.  
"Mae, please."  
"I said no, Hiro!" I didn't know where the sudden strength cans from, but now I was practically screaming at him. Just get out of here!"  
I heard him take a breath to speak, and I cut him off.  
_"I said get out of here!"_  
Hiro didn't try to protest. He stood there for a minute, and then I heard his footsteps getting farther and farther away. I curled up again and eventually cried myself to sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

I don't even know what time it was when I woke up, but I'm sure it was dark out. There was a soft knock on my door, and it opened without me responding. I looked up to see a taller blurry figure, and smiled, since it was someone I haven't seen in a while.  
"Hey, Tadashi," I whispered.  
"Hey, Mae." He sat down on the edge of my bed, and I could see he was holding something.  
"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the blob in his hand.  
"Something you need," he chuckled. He handed the blob to me, and as soon as it touched my hands, I knew what it was. I slipped them on my eyes and saw Tadashi's smiling face. Everything looked clear now.  
"Thanks for the new glasses, Tadashi. It's nice not seeing things in a blurry blob," I chuckled. His smile got wider when I laughed.  
"Glad to see you have energy at three in the morning."  
I looked at my clock and decided to be a bit of a jerk.  
"It's three-o-two, Tadashi! You've got to be _specific_!"  
Tadashi quietly laughed, trying not to wake anyone. After a moment, things went silent, and he looked at me with a serious expression.  
"How are you holding up?" He asked, looking me in my violet eyes. "Hiro told me... you know, what happened..."  
I sighed and looked down at my covered arms.  
"I think I'm getting better. I'm pretty sure this was just some sort of relapse or something." I looked up at Tadashi. "Things are going to get better, right? My father's never going to be able to reach me."  
Tadashi sighed.  
"I don't know, Mae. But what I do know is that, minus that incident, you're always safe here. You've got Aunt Cass and I to protect you, and Hiro to lift you up. Just as long as you listen to him, things _will_ get better. You hear me?"  
I nodded, but didn't take the words to heart. Based on what had happened, I didn't have much hope for my life. I looked down at my hands, tears slowly running down my cheeks. My new glasses began to fog, so I took them off and cleaned them with my black sleeve.  
"Mae..." Tadashi sighed. He moved in to give me a hug, but I stopped him.  
"No, Tadashi." I looked up at him. "Just go, please. Just let me stay here for a little bit."  
Tadashi opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped, knowing he wouldn't win that argument. He simply looked at me for a moment, then left, closing the door behind him. I took my glasses off, placing them on the table beside me, then curled up, falling asleep within seconds.  
I had nightmare of my father clawing his way out of Hell and coming to kill me.


	21. Chapter 21

I woke up the next morning, heart still heavy, but overall feeling better. I slipped on my glasses and exited my room. Something about today seemed significant in the back of my mind, but I couldn't remember why. I turned the corner to see Hiro and Tadashi sitting at the table, eating breakfast. As I got closer, I noticed that Tadashi was eating, but Hiro was just sitting there, picking at his food and looking depressed. I walked over and sat down.  
"Morning, you two," I smiled.  
"Hey, Mae," Tadashi smiled. Hiro just sat there, not looking up.  
"Hiro," I smiled. "You alright?"  
Tadashi scooted closer to me and whispered something in my ear.  
"He's worried about the showcase tonight. I don't know if you could say something to cheer him up, please?"  
I nodded, then scooted my chair over to where Hiro was sitting and pulled him into a sideways sort of hug.  
"You're going to be amazing, alright? You're smarter than all of those nerds combined. And you're young enough to have an amazing imagination!"  
Hiro sighed and looked at me. I let go and scooted my chair back over to where it was, then got up and walked over to the counter. There was another plate of eggs, sausage, and toast.  
"I'd assume this plate is for me?" I called behind me.  
"You assume correctly," Tadashi laughed. I went into the fridge and poured myself a glass of milk, then sat down with the others and began eating. As I put a piece of sausage into my mouth, I pulled out my phone and began texting Honey Lemon and Gogo.  
Me: Hey, you two wanna go shopping? I need a new outfit for the showcase!  
Within seconds, Honey Lemon replied, and Gogo not long after her.  
HL: OMG YES!!! I'd love to go!  
GG: Yeah sure. Beats just sitting at home until the showcase starts. What time do you want to go?  
I closed my messages and looked at the time on my phone. It was nine-thirty now, and I remembered that the showcase started at seven.  
Me: How about ten? Does that work?  
HL: Yeah. That works! I'll be there at ten.  
I put down my phone and continued eating as I spoke.  
"I'm going shopping with Honey Lemon and Gogo at ten. If I'm back before the showcase, I'll help you and Hiro load up his invention. If not, I'll meet you there."  
"Alright," Tadashi chuckled. "Good luck."  
"Honey Lemon, I just wanted one outfit," I complained.  
We had been shopping for around three hours now, and Honey Lemon had bought me seven outfits so far. Most of them, of course, had been black, but she was currently trying to add some more color by having me try on a blue one.  
"Honey Lemon, Mae said she doesn't want anymore. Let's just go."  
"Fine," Honey Lemon sighed. "This is your last outfit..."  
"Thank you," I sighed.  
"...before we move on to get you accessories!"  
I groaned and Gogo face palmed. I took out my phone and looked at the time. It was only one o'clock.  
This is going to be a long day.....


	22. Chapter 22

After hours of torturous shopping, Honey Lemon finally let me go so that I could get ready for the showcase, despite the fact that I wasn't participating. She'd given me a very thorough list of what I should do, but I was gonna ignore that and save her tips for another time. They were something more akin to a first date or a wedding than just going to a showcase for a scholarship with friends. I changed into one of the new outfits Honey Lemon and I had bought as I finished up the frozen yogurt we ate for lunch. I put on a blue tank top, white denim skirt, and blue and black sweater.(www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=18043...) It didn't match my hair at all, but that didn't matter to me. I was thinking of changing the colors soon, since the dye was fading. I slipped on a pair of blue boot heels and walked out. No one was standing there, so I assumed the two of them were in the garage, getting ready to go. I grabbed my purse and phone, then headed to the garage. Hiro and Tadashi were standing there, grabbing onto some large blue garbage bins.  
"Hey nerds," I teased. "Ready to go?"  
Tadashi nodded, but Hiro just looked down at the garbage bin.  
"Hiro?"  
Hiro took a deep breath, then looked up at me and smiled confidently.  
"Yeah, let's go."  
"Alright!"  
I grabbed onto a garbage bin and helped wheel it into Fred's truck. One by one, we loaded them up into the back, until all nine were ready to go. Fred drove off and the three of us climbed into the back of Aunt Cass' car. My face fell a bit, briefly recalling the memories of the last time we were in this car, but I quickly shook them off and smiled at Hiro.  
"You're gonna do amazing. I know it."  
Hiro smiled at me.  
"Thanks, Mae." I smiled at him. "Nice outfit, by the way."  
I laughed.  
"This is the result of asking Honey Lemon to go shopping. I learned that was a stupid mistake the hard way."  
Tadashi laughed.  
"Yeah, try being her boyfriend."  
"Wait what?" I held back the urge to squeal like a little girl. "You're dating?"  
Tadashi blushed and Hiro punched him in the arm.  
"Dude, how long?"  
"Actually, a few years now..." Tadashi took a deep breath. "I was thinking, when the two of us got out of college and had enough money, we could... you know... get married and all that."  
"Aw, Dashi." I poked his arm. "You're such a girl on the inside."  
"Hey, shut up." He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling and blushing.  
"You're blushing," I teased.  
Before I could say another word, we arrived at the college, and our friends came to greet us.  
But I'll never be able to look at Honey Lemon and Tadashi the same again.


	23. Chapter 23

We wheeled the large, blue garbage bins filled with Hiro's inventions. I walked between Hiro and Tadashi, with the others following close behind.  
"Wow... There is some sweet tech here today," Tadashi marveled. "You nervous?" He asked his brother.  
"You're talking to an ex-bot fighter. It takes a lot to rattle me."  
"Yup, he's nervous," Gogo concluded, pulling up besides us.  
"Oh, he's so tense..." Honey Lemon smiled as the rest of them pulled up beside us. I had to hide my grin as Honey Lemon pulled up aside Tadashi.  
"What? No I"m not!" Hiro protested.  
"Relax, Hiro. Your tech is amazing," Honey Lemon encouraged. "Tell him, Gogo."  
"Stop whining, woman up," Gogo urged flatly.  
"What do you need, little man?" Wasabi asked. "Deodorant? Breath mint? Fresh pair of underpants?"  
"Underpants?" Gogo asks as we pull the garbage bins up besides the stage. "You need serious help."  
"Hey, I come prepared."  
"I haven't done laundry in six months," Fred spoke up, jumping up to sit on the stage. "One pair of underpants will last me one week. I go front, I go back, I go inside out, then I go front and back again."   
I gagged, and Wasabi almost vomited.  
"Wow..." Tadashi sighed. "That is both impressive and disgusting."  
" _Don't_ encourage him," Gogo said in a monotone voice.  
"It's called recycling," Fred stated dumbly. I rolled my eyes. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and a voice came over the loud speaker.  
"Next entry: Hiro Hamada."  
"Oh, this is it!" Fred jumped off the stage and moved towards Hiro.  
"Guess I'm up," Hiro smiled. There was something odd about his posture, but I disregarded it for now.  
"Okay, photo, photo." Honey Lemon whipped out her phone and shepherded us into a group. SHe held up her phone to take a selfie and I held up two fingers in a peace sign.  
"Everybody say Hiro!"  
"Hiro!"  
She snapped the picture and everyone dispersed, each grabbing a garbage can to take to a location.  
"Good luck Hiro!"  
"Break a leg, little man."  
"Don't mess it up."  
"Science! Yeah!"  
I laughed at Fred's response, then walked over to give him a hug. Tadashi beat me to the punch, however, and walked over to give Hiro a fist bump.  
"Alright, bro. This is it."  
Hiro didn't move, and Tadashi walked over to the front of him. I approached his side.  
"Come on. Don't leave me hanging."  
Tadashi's face softened when he looked at his brother. Hiro was practically frozen in place and he was just staring ahead with his wide brown eyes.  
"What's going on?" I asked, worried.  
"I really want to go here," he replied. Tadashi put a hand on his brother's shoulder.  
"Hey... you got this."  
Hiro smiled awkwardly at his brother and I turned him to face me.  
"Hiro, you're ten times smarter than all these nerds combined, including this one." I gestured to his brother, which made him laugh. "You're going to do amazing. Trust me."  
"Thanks, Mae," he breathed. We stood there, looking into each other's eyes. He leaned closer, and so did I. We wrapped each other into a brief hug, and the he walked up onto the stage. Tadashi looked at me with an odd expression and we walked to the audience.   
"What?" I asked.  
"I saw that."  
"Saw what?"  
"You like my brother."  
"What? No I don't!" I was totally lying, but I was trying to cover it up.  
"Mae, you're either a really good liar, or a bad one. In this specific scenario, you're horrible. Tell me right now, and be honest: do you or do you not have a crush on my brother?"  
I took a deep breath.  
"I think I do..."  
Tadashi nodded, satisfied.  
"Promise you'll keep that a secret?"  
He nodded.  
"I promise, Mae. Your secrets are safe with me."  
I smiled then looked at the stage. Hiro was about to begin speaking.


	24. Chapter 24

Hiro stepped up onto the stage and a spotlight fell onto him. I could see his hands shaking as he swallowed hard and spoke.  
"Uh... h-hi. My name's Hiro Hamada." Feedback ricocheted through the entire room, and everyone covered their ears. As soon as it was done, everyone looked back up at Hiro, who was trembling. "I-I've made something that I think is... pretty cool." He turned to put on his ESP device, but turned back around for a second. "I hope you like it." He put on the ESP headband, then pulled a small robot out of his pocket. "This is a Microbot." The small robot waved with the top half of its body, and a man slowly inched away. Hiro desperately looked over at Tadashi and I, terrified. Tadashi made a movement that symbolized taking a deep breath, and Hiro did so, then focused back on his speech.  
"It may not look like much, but when it links with the others..."  
At that moment, there were loud 'bangs' of something falling from the back of the room, and crawling like bugs. People jumped out of the way, and I did the same as a load of Microbots shot past my feet. They all crawled up the stage and assembled themselves in a large rectangle on stage.   
"...things get a bit more interesting." He let go of the Microbot in his hand and it joined the others. More and more people came over. "The Microbots are controlled by _this_ Neural Transmitter." He pointed to the headpiece. "I think of what I want them to do, and they do it. The applications for this technology are limitless. Construction: what once took hundreds of people working for months can now be performed by one person." Hiro ended up on the top of a tall metal structure that the Microbots had built. "And that's just the beginning." He stepped off the tower, causing everyone to gasp, only for Hiro to be caught by a belt of his Microbots. "How about... transportation? Microbots can move anything anywhere with ease." The Microbots took Hiro upside-down, and he passed over us. Tadashi high-fived his brother as he passed, then moved to be back right-side up. He instructed some of the Microbots to help some dude in a human-sized hamster ball back up onto his pedestal, then made his way back to the stage. "If you can think it, Microbots can do it!" He stepped back onto the stage, and the Microbots made a larger version of themselves. "Microbots!"  
The crowd erupted into cheering and applause as the lights came back up. Hiro bowed, then raced off the stage as we all came to greet him. Honey Lemon scooped him up into a hug, and after she put him down, Hiro and Tadashi did their secret handshake.  
"That was amazing!"  
"They loved you!"  
"That was incredible!" I cried, pulling him into a hug.  
"Yes." We all turned to see a tall, blonde man walking over to us. "With some development, your technology could be revolutionary."  
"Allistar Crei..." Hiro breathed.   
"May I?" Hiro handed Mr. Krei the Microbot he had in his pocket, who observed it and then smiled.   
"Amazing... I want your Microbots at Krei Tech.:  
"Shut up..." Hiro gaped.  
"Mr. Krei is right." We all turned to see Mr. Callaghan walking towards us. "Your technology is revolutionary. You can continue developing them, or you can sell them to a man who's only guided by his own self-ambitions." His voice grew sharper at the last sentence.  
"Robert, I know how you feel about me..."  
"The decision is your's, Hiro, but you should know that Mr. Krei has cut corners and ignored sound science to get where he is now."  
"That's not true..."  
"I wouldn't trust Krei Tech with your Microbots... or anything else."  
"Hiro, I'm offering you more money than any fourteen-year-old can imagine."  
Hiro looked at me, then his brother. We both offered him small smiles, and he turned back to the two men.  
"I appreciate the offer, Mr. Krei, but they're not for sale."  
Mr. Krei chuckled in defeat.  
"I... thought you were smarter than that..." As he walked away, he tugged on his sleeve and glared at Mr. Callaghan. "Robert..." He hissed sharply. He was about to completely get out of earshot, when Tadashi stopped him.  
"Mr. Krei!" Mr. Krei turned around. "That belongs to my brother." He pointed to Mr. Krei's hand.   
"Oh, right..." He tossed the Microbot back to Hiro, who surprisingly caught it. Once Mr. Krei was out of sight, Mr. Callaghan pulled out a letter and handed it to Hiro.  
"I look forward to seeing you in class."


	25. Chapter 25

We all burst through the doors, elated, as Hiro held up the envelope in triumph. Aunt Cass quickly caught up to us, just as excited as we were.  
"Alright geniuses, let's feed those hungry brains! Everyone, back to the Café, dinner is on me!"  
"Yeah!"  
"Alright!"  
"Nothing is better than free food! Unless it's moldy!"  
"Hey, uh, Aunt Cass," Tadashi piped up, "we'lll-uh... we'll catch up, alright?"  
"Okay." She suddenly jumped up and wrapped Hiro up into a hug. "Oh, I'm so proud of you!" She slung her arm around Tadashi. "I'm proud of both of you!" She then walked away as Honey Lemon approached Tadashi.  
"Hey, you coming?" She smiled warmly.  
"Yeah, I'm just going to talk to Hiro and Mae for a moment. I'll see you back at the Café."  
"Promise?"  
Tadashi hastily kissed her lips.  
"Promise."  
She walked away as I chuckled to myself. Hiro rolled his eyes next to me, showing his disgust, and Tadashi motioned for us to follow him. He led us to a small overlook away from almost everything. Tadashi rested against the railing, and Hiro spoke as I did the same.

"I know what you're going to say:" He put on his best Tadashi impression. "I should be proud of myself because I'm finally using my gift for something important."

"No, I was just going to tell you that your fly was down for the whole show."

"Oh, haha." Just to make sure, Hiro looked down. "Aw, what?" Hiro zipped up his fly and punched his brother as Tadashi and I chuckled.

"Ah," Tadashi cried as Hiro hit him, almost as if to say 'what did I do?' Hiro settled down and leaned against the railing, right next to me. "Welcome to Nerd School, nerd."

"Thanks... Listen, uh, you helped me get here... so, thanks for, you know, not giving up on me, and all that."

Tadashi smiled, and everything seemed right.  
_But in an instant, everything can shatter._

Suddenly, blaring alarms and screams pierced the delicate skin of the air. The three of us glanced at each other, then raced off to the school building. As we got closer, smoke came into my line of vision, and when we went up to the structure, smoke, fire, and terrorized people were pouring out. Tadashi raced up to one of the fleeing judges and tried to help her.

"Are you alright?" He asked warily.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but... Professor Callaghan's still in there!" She pointed to the building as she dashed off. Tadashi glanced at the burning building for a moment, then started to run towards it. Acting fast, I grabbed Tadashi's wrist, stopping him.

"Tadashi, no!" I cried. He looked at me, then the building, and then back at me.

"Callaghan's still in there... Someone has to help."

He broke free from my grip and ran into the building. As he did, his hat flew off, prompting Hiro to race over and pick it up. We glanced at each other, clearly having the same thought. We both took only a step, and the building collapsed, sending us both flying backwards. Pain raced through my head as I raised it, looking at the school in shock and horror. The support beams of the structure had collapsed from being eaten away by fire. There was no way Tadashi survived.

"Tadashi!" Hiro cried as ambulances and fire trucks finally pulled up, too little too late. Black spots began to cloud my vision, overtaking my mind like a parasite, and with one final shock of pain, I collapsed and allowed myself to pass out.


	26. Chapter 26

It had been about a week since Tadashi had died. Out of respect, I'd dyed my hair black, of course including blue, pink, and green streaks. I wore nothing but black now. Worse of all, I'd gone back to my old ways, with no optimistic Hiro to stop me. My arms and legs looked like the result of thousands of lashings, dealt over and over again for a month. Luckily, since we'd both been locked away in our own rooms, he didn't know that I'd started cutting again. Not that he's care at the moment, of course. Written over some of the scars on my left arm were iconic words that would likely stay there forever.

_Nothing is the same now that you do not exist._

I looked over the words and felt a biting pain rising in my throat. The threat of tears was neutralized when there was a knock on my door. I swallowed down the pain and spoke warily.

"Who is it?"

"It's Aunt Cass."

I walked over and opened the door, greeting Aunt Cass. She offered me a sympathetic smile.

"Hi honey... how are you holding up?"

I sighed and ruffled some of my hair.

"Alright, I guess. I mean, it's only been a week, so the pain is obviously still there, but I think it's starting to hurt less." That was a huge lie, but I wanted to give Miss Hamada hope.

"That's good. Maybe you could, I don't know, pass some of that positive energy off to Hiro. He's not any better, and I think he might need someone there for him."

I offered the closest thing to a smile that I could.

"Yeah, sure. He might not respond at first, but I can try to snap him out of it."

Aunt Cass nodded and closed the door so that I could change out of my sweatpants and hoodie into something I could wear outside. I slipped on a black Fall Out Boy T-Shirt, along with some black shorts and Converses. After I slipped my glasses back on, I left the room and walked up to Hiro's room. I just walked in, not bothering to knock, and looked over in the corner. Hiro was sitting, shoulders slumped, in a beanbag chair, shutters closed and room slightly darkened. I walked over to him and noticed that there was an untouched plate of dinner food sitting on the bay windowsill. I sighed and sat down in the chair next to him. I didn't speak or anything, but instead just sat there and looked at him. After a few moments, he practically launched himself into my arms and started crying. I suddenly froze, not used to people coming to me for emotional help. I hugged him tighter and stroked his hair. This lasted for a few minutes, until Aunt Cass walked in and Hiro went back to wanting to be alone.

"Hey, you two," she sighed. I noticed she was carrying a plate of food. "Ms. Matsuda's in the Café She's wearing something super inappropriate for an eighty-year-old." A smile flashed across Hiro's face, but it faded as soon as it came. "That always cracks you up."

_Not this time,_ I thought.

Aunt Cass walked over, picked up the old plate, set down the new one, and lifted the shades. She was just about to walk out, when she remembered something and stopped.

"Oh... the university called. Uh, they said that it's been a few weeks since classes started, but it's not too late to register." She walked over and adjusted Hiro's acceptance letter. "Just think about it." After that, she walked out. Hiro stood, and I did the same, just to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid. He closed the shades and walked over to his desk. He sat down and turned on his computer. I could tell he was about to look something up, when a video message alert appeared in the corner, He clicked on it, and a video of the gang popped up. Gone were Honey Lemon's bright clothes, replaced with black and grey, since she was mourning the loss of her boyfriend.

"Hey Hiro," they all smiled.

"We just wanted to check in and see how you're doing," Honey Lemon smiled.

"We're here for you, little man," Wasabi comforted him.

"Hiro, if I could have one superpower, it would be the ability to reach through this screen and give you a big hug." The video cut out there. Hiro took the acceptance letter in his hands, looked at it for a moment, and then threw it in the garbage. He then picked up Megabot and began to walk over to his chair. He didn't get very far, however, because the bottom of Megabot fell off and slammed down onto his foot.

"Ow!" Hiro cried, holding his foot. He sat down on his bed and I walked over, taking his foot in my hand. "Ah, ow..."

There was a beeping noise, and when Hiro and I looked up, we saw Baymax standing there, staring at us. We watched him in shock as he made his way over, knocking over books due to his large size. Eventually, he made his way over to us, and oved his hand in the familiar greeting circle.

"Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

"Oh, h-hey, Baymax..." Hiro stuttered.

"I didn't know you were still active," I finished.

"I heard a sound of distress. Is everything alright?"

"Oh yeah... I just stubbed my toe a little, that's all." I rolled my eyes at Hiro's response.

"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?" The same cartoon faces appeared on Baymax's stomach.

"Uh, a zero?" Hiro sighed. "Really, I'm fine."

"Does it hurt when I touch it?" Baymax moved towards Hiro with his finger extended, causing Hiro to jump up and start walking backwards.

"No, no, no touching. You can shrink now." With that, Hiro fell back, landing in the small space between his bed and desk. Baymax and I both walked over, concern lacing my eyes.

"You have fallen," Baymax stated.

"You think?" Hiro replied sarcastically. He tried to stand, but he used his shelf as support, and as a result, it snapped, sending him falling back down. One by one, the action figures on said shelf began to fall on him. Each time, he cried out in pain, causing Baymax to repeat his famous line.

"On a scale of one... On a scale... On a scale... On a scale of one to ten... On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

"Zero." Hiro's reply was muffled due to being surrounded by action figures. Baymax reached down and picked him up, cradling him baby style, which made me snicker.

"It is alright to cry," Baymax informed him. "Crying is a natural response to pain."

"I'm alright," Hiro sighed, climbing out of the loveable robot's arms.

"I will scan you for injuries."

"Don't scan me," Hiro warned.

"Scan complete," Baymax said after only a second. I sat back down on Hiro's bed.

"Unbelievable." Hiro threw his arms up in frustration.

"You have sustained no physical injuries," Baymax stated. "However, your hormone and neural transmitter levels indicate that you are suffering mood swings, common in adolescents. Diagnosis-" Baymax held up his finger, "-puberty."

"Whoa, what?" Hiro blushed a deep red as I chuckled. "Alright, time to shrink now..." Hiro walked over to get Bamax's carrying case.

"You should expect an increase in body hair, especially on your face, chest, armpits, and-"

"Okay, thank you." Hiro cut Baymax off and began attempting to shove him into his carrying case by climbing up onto his head. I began laughing at the scene and at what Baymax was saying.

"You may also experience strange and powerful new urges." I was laughing my head off at this point.

"Okay, let's get you back in your luggage."

"I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care."

"Fine. I'm satisfied with my-whoa!"

My laughing came to a halt as Hiro was launched face first onto the ground. He sat there for a moment, then reached under his bed and pulled out the Microbot from a week ago. Oddly, it was moving, as if it were trying to leave.

"My Microbot?" I climbed off the bed and walked over with Hiro to his desk. He put it in a petri dish and it continued to move. I was just as shocked as he was. "This doesn't make any sense..."

"Puberty can often be a confusing time for a young adult flowering into manhood," Baymax stated, walking over to us.

"No, no," I sighed, "it's attracted to the other Microbots, but they were all destroyed in the fire." Hiro set the petri dish down, only for Baymax to pick it up. "Dumb thing's broken."

Hiro moved on, deciding to actually do something and fix Megabot. I handed him a screwdriver and he proceeded to use it on the robot's lower half. After a few minutes, Baymax looked at us.

"Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere."

"Oh yeah?" Hiro replied absentmindedly. "Why don't you, uh, see where it wants to go?"

"Would that stabilize your pubescent mood swings?"

"Yeah..." 

There were a few moments of silence, until the Café door opening and closing sounded, and cars' tires screeching followed.

"B-Baymax?" I stuttered. Hiro and I glanced at each other, then raced to the window. We were greeted with the sight of Baymax walking in the middle of the street, looking down at the Microbot.

"What?" Hiro cried. He raced to grab his shoes, with me following him, and we raced out of his room.


	27. Chapter 27

  
Hiro and I raced down the stairs as Hiro attempted to slip on his hoodie. We raced through the cafe and almost got out the door, when Aunt Cass ended up blocking our path and noticing us.  
"Hiro... Mae..." She seemed shocked to see the two of us together, up and about. "You're up..."  
"Yeah." Hiro's voice was a bit high-pitched. It was a miracle Aunt Cass hadn't figured out that we were rushing out for a reason."Figured it was... time." I resisted the urge to face palm at his horrible excuses.  
"That's great, hon! Are your going to enroll?" I was seriously dumbfounded that she didn't notice how distracted Hiro was. He was looking over her shoulder, _out the door_ , and it was super obvious that he was, and she somehow still didn't notice.  
"Yeah, I'm going to." His voice was far-off and distant, like the night Tadashi took us to SFIT. "Thought about what you said, really inspiring." Hiro had begun snaking his way around Aunt Cass, and I followed.  
"Alright! Special dinner tonight! I'll whip up some chicken wings, you know, the ones with the hot sauce that makes out faces melt."  
"Awesome!" I smiled, trying to rush Hiro and I out the door so that we could catch Baymax. We almost got out when Aunt Cass stopped us one last time.  
"Last hug," she said, pulling Hiro and I into a tight, suffocating hug. It only lasted a few seconds, but to two fourteen-year-olds in a rush, it seemed like an eternity. She finally let us go, and as soon as she walked away, Hiro flung open the door, grabbed my wrist, and we practically flew out the door. Hiro and I made a mad dash down the street, flying past cars and trucks that were suddenly stopping for us. It was a miracle that no one had gotten in a car accident because of Hiro, Baymax, or myself.  
"Baymax!" Hiro cried as we raced down a hill. Hiro and I looked around, we spotted Baymax on a trolley, staring down at the small Microbot in the clear petri dish. We raced after the trolley car and followed Baymax as he climbed off the ancient car and walked through a large crowd, oblivious to the cries from Hiro and I.  
"Baymax!" I screamed, Hiro's hand still firmly wrapped around my wrist. We raced through the crowds that were already parting for the large, moving balloon-person. Hiro and I screamed out his name, following in a close pursuit. Finally, after what seemed like hours of running, Baymax came to a halt in front of some sort of old, abandoned warehouse. Hiro skidded to a stop and slammed against the ground, letting go of my wrist before he crashed.  
"Hiro!" I cried, helping him up. He seemed to shake off his scraped areas very quickly and raced to meet Baymax. I shrugged and walked over, my heart rate finally getting close to back-to-normal. Hiro stood on one side of Baymax, with me on the other. Baymax didn't look up until Hiro snatched the petri dish from him.  
"I have found where your tiny robot wants to go," he finally stated.  
"I told you," Hiro cried, exasperated, "it's broken! It's not trying to go... anywhere..." Hiro stopped speaking, now staring in slight amazement at his Microbot. I looked down at the small robot as Hiro moved back and forth, confirming what Baymax had been saying: the Microbot _was_ trying to go somewhere. Why it was an old, abandoned warehouse confused me, but I got a sick feeling in my gut, which meant it probably wasn't good.  
Either that, or it was the lack of food getting to me.  
"How are we supposed to get in?" I sighed, looking at the large padlock and chain wrapped around the door. Hiro and Baymax looked around a bit, and Baymax gave us an answer. He pointed at some high point, and Hiro and I followed his gaze.  
"There is a window."


	28. Chapter 28

Hiro stood up on Baymax, hoping to get up through the window.  
"Please exercise caution," Baymax warned him. "A fall from this height could lead to serious bodily harm."  
Hiro didn't respond to Baymax's precaution and stepped through the window. I then took my turn climbing onto Baymax's head, and Hiro extended his arm down so that he could help me up. I made sure my sleeves stayed covering my arms as I extended my arm up and he hoisted me through the window.  
"Thanks," I whispered, careful to keep my voice low in case someone was in the warehouse. Hiro and I took a few cautionary steps forward, when there was a noise like a balloon getting rubbed around on skin. Hiro and I sharply turned around to see Baymax wedged into the small crevice between the window and its base. Hiro and I glanced at each other, then at Baymax.  
"Oh no," Baymax stated blandly in his monotone voice.   
"Shh, shh, shh!" Hiro cautioned Baymax.  
"Please excuse me while I let out some air."  
Baymax began letting out air, sounding like a deflated balloon. I just stared at Baymax as he did so, hoping that if there was someone in here, they couldn't hear this. Hiro's jaw was slack, as if he were shocked that Baymax could deflate. After about a minute, Baymax seemed like he had finished inflating.  
"Are you done?" Hiro hissed.  
Baymax let out a little bit more air, then put down his finger.  
"Yes."  
Hiro and I each grabbed an arm and pulled him through the open slot.  
"It will take me a moment to re-inflate."  
"Fine," Hiro sighed. "Just be careful."   
As Baymax began re-inflating, Hiro and I walked down the stairs leading down to the main area. I placed my hand on his forearm as we got off the final step. There was an odd, cubical-like thing in the center of the warehouse. Hiro moved behind a pole and grabbed a broom that was leaning against a metal support beam. He held it in his arms while I balled up my fists, ready to throw a punch at a moment's notice. As we walked closer to the translucent cubical, the sound of robots working became clearer. I looked at Hiro, confused, and we walked even closer. Hiro set down the broom and pressed his hands up against the glass, looking in.  
"Mae..."  
That's all he needed to say for me to come and look. I gasped once I took in what I was seeing. There were work-designed robots manufacturing something small that looked familiar, and there was someone with their back turned to us, looking at the production line.  
"No, they can't be..." I whispered. Hiro and I walked around to the side that the conveyor belt looked like it was moving. Sure enough, there was a barrel there that the little robots were being put in to. Hiro reached into the barrel and pulled out a handful of...  
"My Microbots?" Hiro whispered, shocked. My eyes were as wide as dinner plates as we both looked up from that one barrel.  
There were _thousands_ of others, all filled with Microbots.   
"Someone's making more..." I whispered.  
"Hiro? Mae?"  
My heart lept out of my chest as Hiro and I whipped around. Luckily for us, it was only Baymax, but I was worried about the person in the cubical hearing us.  
"You gave me a heart attack," I hissed.  
"My hands are equipped with defibrillators." Baymax rubbed his hands together and two blue circles glowed in the center of his chubby palms. "Clear!"  
"Stop, stop!" Hiro cried, defending me. "It's just an expression."  
Baymax put his hands down and the blue glow faded. I glanced at Hiro, and then I heard something familiar: a sound like thousands of beetles crawling on a wooden floor.  
"Hiro..." I whispered, tensing up.  
"Oh no," Baymax stated, looking up and behind us. Hiro and I slowly turned around and I shrieked. Someone was controlling the Microbots, and they were rising up, making high towers.  
"Run!" Hiro grabbed, grabbing me by my wrist, covered by my sweatshirt. I ran as fast as I could, and I looked back to see if Baymax was following. I stopped, bringing Hiro to a halt, when I noticed that Baymax was just trotting along.  
"Are you kidding me?" Hiro cried.  
"I am not fast." Baymax stated, monotone as usual.  
"Yeah, no kidding!" I grabbed Baymax by the hand and began running, speeding him up. We ran up to the door and I let go of Baymax.  
"Kick the door!" Baymax lightly tapped his foot against the door.  
"Punch it!" The same thing happened with his fist.  
"Ugh!" Hiro grabbed my wrist and I got Baymax, and we ran off, turning the corner. We came to a vent on the floor and Hiro pried the top off. Hiro and I shoved Baymax down into it, then he jumped down, and then he helped me to come down. We crawled through the vents, turning corners sharply. We turned a corner a few feet in front of us, and were about to move forwards, when a group of Microbots shot up, blocking our path.  
"Aah!"  
"Come on, Baymax," Hiro urged. "Hurry!" The Microbots began chasing after us and then popping up in spires in front of us. Eventually, we came to another vent cover and after we helped Baymax out, and Hiro helped me, we climbed up the stairs we had come down only a few minutes ago. Hiro and I were about to run across the platform, when we ended up looking right at the source of the Microbots' movement. They wore all black, with the exception of a Kabuki mask on their face. Hiro and I lingered our gaze on them for only a moment, and then we ran to the window. Hiro and I began shoving Baymax out the window, trying to move fast, but Baymax was just a bit too large, and the man was able to send a column of Microbots flying towards us.  
"Hiro?" Baymax asked again for some reason, and then he wrapped his arms around Hiro and I just as the Microbots made impact with his vinyl. The three of us flew out the window, and landed on the sidewalk, far away from the person. After recovering from the shock, Hiro grabbed my wrist, and I grabbed Baymax, and we ran off, minds set on going to the police station.  
"Let's get out of here!"


	29. Chapter 29

  
"So, let me get this straight..." The officer didn't seem to be buying our report. "A man in a Kabuki mask attacked you with an army of miniature flying robots?"  
"Microbots," Hiro corrected him.  
"Microbots..." The officer typed something into his computer, still not believing us.  
"Right," I confirmed. "He was controlling them telepathically with a neural cranial transmitter."  
"So Mr. Kabuki was using ESP to attack you two and Balloon-Man over here." He gestured his head towards Baymax, face unamused. Baymax inflated his arm, and three small spots began sending out air, indicating where the Microbots had punctured his vinyl. He reached for the tape dispenser and started placing pieces of Scotch tape over the punctures. Hiro and I looked at him, jaws slightly agape, as he inflated the other arm and repeated the process. The officer moved the tape dispenser towards Baymax as he covered his holes.  
"Did you file a report when your flying robots were stolen?"  
"No!" Hiro was clearly getting increasingly frustrated. "I thought they were all destroyed! Look, I know it sounds crazy, but Baymax was there. Tell him!" Hiro turned to Baymax and gestured towards the officer. Baymax held up his finger, ready to make a point.  
"Yes, officer. He is telling the truuuth..." Baymax's speech became slurred like a drunk, and he began slumping over.  
"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" I asked.  
"Low battery..." his system stated.  
"Hey, hey, try to keep it together, man," Hiro said, trying to catch the swaying Baymax.  
"I am healthcare, personal Baymax." Baymax finally collapsed and Hiro and I were quick to catch him.  
"Look, kids, why don't we call your parents?" He turned around to grab some papers and a pen.  
"Wait, what?" Hiro seemed shocked that he had suggested this. He looked at me, and the two of us raced off with Baymax on our shoulders. Before we had, Baymax grabbed a string of tape from the dispenser and pulled it along with him. We were able to bring him out the door before the officer turned back around. Once we had gotten to a safe enough point, Hiro and I set Baymax down and started talking to him.  
"We need to get you home," Hiro sighed.  
"Can you walk?"  
"I will scan you now, scan complete," he slurred. He bounced up and down for a moment, then made a giggling like noise mixed with a hiccup. "Healthcare."  
"It's not that far of a walk from here to your Aunt's house. Should we just do that?"  
"Not that far? Mae, that will take two hours! It'll be dark by that time!"  
"Well, Hiro, neither of us have our wallets, so we can't pay for any services to get home."  
"If I found a Bot Fight..."  
"And who would you use to fight? Baymax?" I pointed to the deflating robot.  
"Fair point," Hiro sighed.  
"Whether you like it or not, Hamada, our only option is to walk. You get one arm, I'll get the other." I grabbed one of Baymax's chubby arms and slung it around my shoulders, then turned my violet eyes to Hiro. He sighed, but caved, realizing that I was right. He did the same as I, and we began walking home.  
  
By the time we had gotten home, my feet ached and my shoulders were heavy. We got Baymax through the door and then released our grip on him.  
"Okay," Hiro whispered, "if my aunt asks, we were at school all day."  
"We jumped out a window!" Baymax stated loudly, prompting me to shush him.  
"You can't say things like that around Aunt Cass," Hiro hissed, trying to keep his aunt from hearing us.  
"We jumped out a window," Baymax repeated, but quieter this time.  
"Alright." Hiro held his hands up in front of Baymax, as if steadying him.  
"Hiro? Mae?" Aunt Cass called down. We both looked at each other, then began walking up the stairs, keeping Baymax at a close distance behind us. We came all the way up the stairs and Hiro rested against the railing, while I leaned back against said railing, next to Hiro.  
"Hey guys," she greeted. "I thought I heard you two."  
"Hey, Aunt Cass," we both greeted at the same time.  
"Wings are almost ready."   
At that moment, delusional Baymax practically flew up the stairs, only being restrained by Hiro and I.  
"Weeee!" He cried, clearly slipping more and more into insanity. I quickly rushed Baymax up the stairs, and Hiro followed, merely tossing him into the room. We walked back down the stairs to greet Aunt Cass. She smiled at us and began putting food down.  
"Okay, tell me _all_ about it."   
Hiro was about to open his mouth when something thudded upstairs.  
_Shoot!_ I thought. _Baymax!  
"_What was that?"  
"Mochi!" Hiro answered too quickly. "Ooh, that darn cat."  
I heard a purring noise by my ankles, and looked down to see Mochi rubbing against Hiro's ankles. We quickly glanced at each other, and in a split second, Hiro tossed Mochi up the stairs and into his room. I covered my mouth to stifle my gasp, then turned my attention back to Hiro. He was walking up to Aunt Cass, and I thought he was going to sit down, but instead, the minute she turned around, , he grabbed the plate from her.  
"Uh, I actually have a lot of homework to catch up on, so I'm going to eat upstairs."  
"Oh... alright. Don't stay up too late." Her gaze flickered over to me. "Do you want me to make you a plate, Mae?"  
"No, I'm alright. I'll eat in a little bit."  
I walked upstairs with Hiro and we shut the door behind us.  
I wasn't really intending to eat.


	30. Chapter 30

I opened the door and chuckled at what I walked in on. Baymax was sitting on the floor, petting Mochi, and saying what seemed like nonsense.  
"Hairy baby," he slurred. "Hairy baby..." As soon as Hiro entered the room, Mochi hissed at him and scampered away. I set down Hiro's plate on his desk and then walked over to help him put Baymax on his charger. After slinging a shoulder under his arm, Hiro and I guided Baymax over to the charger.   
"Alright... we got this," I murmured. "That's it." Baymax attempted to put his foot into his charger, but his perception was off, and it slipped. "One foot in front of the other." Finally, Baymax was able to put both feet in, and he began re-inflating, and in a matter of moments, he was fully recharged and inflated. Hiro relaxed and sat abruptly in his chair, while I flopped down onto his bed, causing the mattress to bounce a little bit. I then sat up and looked up to see Hiro nibbling on a spicy chicken wing. He looked back at me and held out the plate.  
"Do you want one, Mae?"  
"No, I'm alright. I'm not exactly hungry right now," I sighed, slightly pushing the plate away. Hiro looked at me with concern, but turned back around to focus on trying to figure out who those people were. He picked up the Microbot in the petri dish and sighed deeply.   
"It doesn't make any sense..."  
"They had to have been able to replicate them somehow. Maybe they had someone do some spy work and they saw how you were making the Microbots."  
"How would they do that, Mae? Tadashi and I would have seen them."  
"Unless they bugged the garage somehow..."  
"Hmm... you've got a point...."  
"Tadashi."  
Hiro and I both looked up to see Baymax staring at Tadashi's untouched side of the bed. I looked over at Hiro and sympathy flashed in my eyes. How were we supposed to explain this to something that acted like a child?  
"What?" Hiro asked.   
"Tadashi." Hiro stood up to close the divider between their sides of the room.  
"Tadashi's gone," I explained.  
"When will he return?"  
"He's dead, Baymax." Hiro's response was blunt, and it shocked me that he was able to say that without missing a beat.  
"I see no evidence of physical injury on Hiro." Hiro sat back down and began messing with the spring on his desk lamp. I placed a hand on his shoulder and looked sadly at Baymax.  
"Wait, why is there only evi-"  
"It's a different kind of hurt," I hurriedly stated, cutting off Hiro.  
"You are my patients. I would like to help you." Baymax walked over and placed his hand on one of Hiro's monitors. Images flashed across it.  
"What are you doing?"  
"I am downloading a database on personal loss." After a few more seconds, he lifted up his arm and the screen went black again. "Database downloaded. Treatments include contact with friends and loved ones. I am contacting them now." Wasabi, Fred, Gogo, and Honey Lemon's faces appeared on Baymax's stomach as he contacted them.  
"No, no, no!" Hiro cried, leaping up. He placed his hands on Baymax's stomach just as their images left the screen.  
"Your friends have been contacted."  
"Unbelievable." Baymax waddled over and wrapped his vinyl arms around Hiro's skinny frame. "Now what are you doing?"  
"Other treatments include compassion and physical reassurance."  
"I'm okay, really."  
"You will be alright. There, there." He gently patted Hiro's head.  
"Thanks, Baymax." Hiro pushed away from Baymax and looked at him.  
"I am sorry about the fire."  
"It's okay. It was an accident," I said, my gaze flickering over to Hiro. He looked down at the petri dish, and the look on his face changed to one of suspicion.  
"Unless... unless it _wasn't."  
"_What are you talking about?"  
"At the showcase... the guy in the mask stole my Microbots, and... and set the fire to cover his tracks. He's responsible for Tadashi! We gotta catch that guy." Hiro sat back down on his chair and turned to look at me.  
"Hiro, I see where you're coming from, but this guy has control of all of your Microbots. We'd need a superhero to stop him." Hiro looked over at Baymax and I rolled my eyes. "No offense, but how is fluffy old Baymax that can barely throw a punch supposed to fight off thousands of Microbots?"  
"We could... design some sort of suit for him... and I could program some moves into him. We'll just have to draw up some designs really quick. You ready to draw?"  
"Uh, always!" We both laughed and I pulled off my sweatshirt, which ended the happy moment all too quick. He looked down at my arms and I swore.  
"Mae... what is this?"  
"Uh, no-nothing...?"  
"Mae..." He buried his head in his hands, frustrated. "Why?"  
"Hiro, to my brain, this is the only solution. Are you not understanding me? I know I told you I'd try, but I _can't stop this!"_ I tried to keep my voice down so Aunt Cass wouldn't intervene. Hiro finally looked up, and his brown eyes seemed to be begging.  
"Mae, please stop. I know that this can kill you, and I care about you enough to not let that happen. Last time, I let you off easily, but I'm intervening this time. Tonight, you're sleeping in here, and tomorrow, I'm taking away _everything_ that you can use to cut yourself, okay?"  
"Hiro, it isn't your job to protect me. I'm going to keep whatever blades I have for as long as I want."  
"No, Mae, you're not. I care about you, and I don't want to see you dead. I can't lose you too, Mae. Please-" he grabbed my hands and looked into my eyes, "-stop this, for me, for Baymax, for Tadashi." At the mention of Tadashi, I stopped and thought for a moment. This isn't what Tadashi would want. He always tried to make me feel better, no matter what. I sighed and ended up caving.   
"You're right, Hiro. This _isn't_ what Tadashi would want... but that doesn't mean that I can just suddenly stop." Hiro looked at me with desperate eyes. "I'll do what you've asked me to, though." A tiny smile grew across his lips. He reached over and pulled me into a hug and I nuzzled my head into his shoulder. Eventually, we both pulled away and I smiled at him, our faces a mere few inches away.  
"Now let's go try to catch that guy," he said, and we both lept up.


	31. Chapter 31

I was busy designing Baymax's armor while Hiro found fighting moves for Baymax to learn. I looked over my design again and sighed. I had designed the armor to be green and black, but there was a design flaw I couldn't work around. I rested my head on one hand and began mentally beating myself.  
"Hey, Hiro?" He looked over from his monitor to focus his gaze on me. "Could you come over here for a minute?" He rolled his chair over and leaned over, cheek almost brushing against mine. I sighed again, frustrated at my design. "I've come up with a design, but there's just one problem: I can't figure out how to keep Baymax's, er, large stomach from getting in the way. I can't make any calculations to be able to keep it out of the way, while simultaneously keeping the amount of pressure low in his body so that he doesn't pop." Hiro sat back in his chair with a smirk.  
"Why, Mae Rogue... Are you a secret science nerd?" I rolled my violet eyes and adjusted my black glasses.  
"I might have picked up a thing or two by listening to you, dummy." I heard a beeping noise and Hiro rolled back over to his monitor, pulling out a flash drive from the USB port. "I'd assume you just want me to leave the design the way I have it?"   
"Yeah. If necessary, we can change it later." I pressed the button and began making the armor through the 3-D Printer Hiro owned. We had decided to make the suit out of carbon fiber, and it was made to be green and black. Hiro helped me shape the armor from the carbon fiber sheets, then we locked it onto Baymax's body. When it was all finally on, he looked pretty cool, with the exception of his protruding stomach, looking like someone had stuck a large beach ball in the lower part of his armor.  
"I have some concerns," he informed us. "This armor may undermine my non-threatening, huggable design."  
"That's kind of the idea, buddy," I chuckled.  
"You look sick. Mae, you did awesome with the design."  
"Me? Oh, no. It would be better if I was able to keep his stomach in."  
"I cannot be sick. I am a robot."  
"It's just an expression," I informed Baymax.  
"Data transfer complete." The voice from Hiro's computer sounded like a way-too-enthusiastic woman.  
Hiro drew a skull and crossbones on the card he had made, filled with the karate moves, and then pressed his finger over the access port, opening it and bringing out the four slots to hold Baymax's personality chips. Hiro hesitated for a moment, seeing the chip that Tadashi had put into the sweet robot, but then put the card into the slot next to it. The access port went back into his body, and the information quickly processed, as evident by the change in Baymax's head position. Hiro pointed to a stack of old boards in the corner, and I walked over and grabbed one.  
"I fail to see how karate will make me a better healthcare companion," Baymax stated in his monotone voice. I handed the board to Hiro and he held it out in front of him.  
"Well, you want to keep me healthy, don't you? Punch this." Baymax lifted up his guarded arm and Hiro braced himself, then the arm came down and sliced the board clean in half. Hiro slowly opened his eyes and looked at the board, astonished, then at me with a goofy smile. I grabbed a huge pile of boards and prepared for more training.  
"Wow, Mae. You were able to carry _all_ of those? That's impressive."  
"Hm? That really wasn't any accomplishment or anything. These things aren't that heavy." Hiro looked at me with one raised, bushy eyebrow, but then let it slide and picked up some more boards, placing them on a set of cinder blocks sitting near the front of the garage. Baymax waddled over.  
"Hammerfist." Baymax performed the action, and the process repeated. "Side kick! Knife hand! Back kick!" Hiro led Baymax over to the old vending machine and confusion crossed my mind. "Gummy bears!" Baymax tapped the glass and a small bag of Gummy Bears fell out of its spot. I rolled my eyes and smiled at Hiro.  
"Come on. Did you really need Baymax to do that?" He opened the pack and handed me some. I popped them into my mouth, one by one.  
"Probably not, but it was an effective test of how strong his armor is. You made it strong enough to shake a large, metal machine with just a tap. Congratulations, Mae. You've made some of the strongest armor ever." I blushed a deep red at the compliment.  
"I'm sure there's been stronger armor somewhere before..." Hiro sighed and looked up at Baymax.  
"Fist bump!" Hiro held out his fist, but Baymax looked at it like it was a foreign object.  
"'Fist bump' is not in my fighting database."  
"No, it's not a fighting move," I explained. "It's what people do when they're excited or pumped up." Hiro held out Baymax's arm and walked him through doing a fist bump. At the end, Hiro made an explosion noise, but Baymax did something different, causing me to laugh.  
"Balalalalalala."  
"Hey, now you're getting it," Hiro laughed.  
"I will add 'fist bump' to my care giving matrix."  
"All right. Let's go get that guy." I opened the garage door, and Hiro and I stepped out into the crisp night, Baymax waddling behind.


	32. Chapter 32

Baymax's waddling was quite loud, but hopefully, it wouldn't be loud enough for the masked man and his sidekick to hear. We quickly made our way through the busy streets and into the alleyway to get to the building. I looked at Hiro and sighed. I nodded, and he gave the order. Baymax kicked down the door and it shattered into a million pieces.  
"Get 'em, Baymax!" Hiro peered out from behind his robot, only to see that everyone and everything was gone from the warehouse. I sighed in defeat and looked at him.  
"I don't understand," I sighed. Hiro pulled the Microbot in the petri dish. It had changed direction and was now pounding against the dish and towards us.  
"Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere," Baymax sgtated again. Hiro looked down at the dish and began following the path of the Microbot.  
"Hiro!" I cried. I had no choice but to chase after him, Baymax waddling behind me at a quick pace. I followed blindly behind him, hoping he knew what he was doing. Hopefully, this Microbot would lead us right to the guys, and we could try to catch them. But Hiro was moving very fast, and my lungs were having difficulty with keeping up.  
"Hiro... can you please... slow down...? My lungs... can't take... moving this fast..." Hiro didn't seem to hear me, too focused on trying to find the men. Baymax picked me up and began carrying me in one arm. "Thank you, Baymax."  
"It is my job to heal my patients," he answered in his adorable, monotone voice. After a while, Baymax put me back down and caught up to Hiro. He grabbed him by the hood, dangling him above the water. I raced up to him as Baymax pulled him away from the water. I grabbed his arm and looked at him with worried eyes.  
"Always wait one hour after eating before swimming," Baymax informed Hiro. He sighed and went back to looking down at the Microbot. I sighed.  
"Hiro, clearly the people are across the sea. We'll never be able to reach them." The Microbot began spazzing out, and then launched itself out of the dish.  
"Hey!" Hiro cried as he reached out to try and grab it. It flew out into the fog, only made denser by the darkness. We both looked out at the water, and there was the noise of something flowing through the water. Hiro and I squinted out past the shoreline, and although it didn't look like there was anything there at first, but soon, the shadow of something large and menacing came over the horizon. Hiro grabbed my hand and rushed behind a shipping crate, Baymax not far behind. Hiro panted in fear, still gripping my hand tight. I ripped it away from his and sighed, trying to control my own heart rate.  
"Your heart rates have increased dramatically."  
"Shh, shh," I hushed Baymax. Hiro turned to the robot.  
"Okay, Baymax. Time to use those upgrades." Baymax held his arms up in a defensive pose, but before he could attack the men, bright lights shone onto us. I looked over at the source, squinting my eyes. The lights shut off, and four figures climbed out of a small car. I had noticed that car following us before, but I had let it go. Four familiar figures climbed out of the car.  
"Hiro? Mae?" Honey Lemon, Gogo,Wasabi, and Fred climbed out of the car and came over to Hiro and I.  
"No, no, no, no," Hiro hissed, approaching the others. "Get out of here, go!"  
"What are you two doing out here?" Wasabi asked us.  
"Nothing!" Hiro answered quickly. "Just out for a walk! It helps my pubescent mood swings." I held back my laughter as he said the last part of his sentence.  
"Is that Baymax?"   
"Yeah, but you really-"  
"Why is he wearing carbon fiber underpants." Gogo pointed to the robot.  
"I don't remember designing underpants for him..." I muttered.  
"I also know karate."  
"You guys need to go."  
"No," Honey Lemon put her hand on Hiro's shoulder. "Don't push us away, Hiro. We're here for you. That's why Baymax contacted us."  
"Those who suffer a loss require support from friends and loved ones."  
"Okay, but we-"  
"Who would like to share their feelings first?"  
"I'll go," Fred shot up his arm and stepped forwards. "Okay. My name is Fred, and it has been thirty days since my last- Holy mother of Megazod!" A large shipping crate was raised in the air and we all turned to it.  
"Am I the only one seeing this?" Wasabi asked. Honey Lemon whipped out her phone and took a picture of the man in the mask, flash and all. He flinched, but it clearly didn't do anything.  
"Are you serious, Honey Lemon?" I cried. "What good is that going to-?" I was cut off by the shipping crate being launched towards us. Before it could fall, Baymax caught it and held it above his head.  
"Oh my gosh! We're gonna die! Oh no!" Wasabi shrieked. When he realized he wasn't going to get crushed, he looked up and around at all of us.  
"Go! Go!" Hiro ushered everyone back towards the car. Gogo grabbed Hiro by the arm and shoved him into the car, crushing him against me."What are you doing?"  
"Saving your life," she growled.  
"Baymax can take that guy." Just as he said that, Baymax came flying out of the dust and landed on the car, getting stuck in a hole he made in the roof of it.  
"Oh no."  
"Wasabi!"  
"Good bye!" Wasabi reversed the car and began driving away, the man in pursuit of us.  
"Hiro. Mae. Explaination. Now."  
"He stole my Microbots."  
"He started the fire."  
"I don't know who he is."  
"There are two of them. One of them wears a mask, and the other one we haven't seen the face of." A horde of Microbots came fast. "Baymax, palm-heel strike!" He held out his palm, and the Microbots flew apart. "Hard left!"  
"That mask, the black suit... We're under attack from a super villain here, people! How cool is that? I mean it's scary, obviously, but how cool?"  
"Can someone slam Fred against the window?" I called to the front of the car. Suddenly, the car came to a halt. "Why are we stopped."  
"The light's red."  
"There are no red lights in a car chase!" Gogo screamed. The light turned green and Wasabi took off again, the masked man in even closer pursuit than before.  
"Why is he trying to kill us?" Wasabi stuck his head out the window and called back to the villain. "Why are you trying to kill us?"  
"It's classic villain. We've seen too much!"  
"Let's not jump to conclusions. We don't know he's trying to kill us." Honey Lemon's optimism was no comfort as the man launched a car at us.  
"Car!"  
"He's trying to kill us!"  
"Did you just put your blinker on?"  
"You have to indicate your turn! It's the law!"  
"That's it." Gogo took her gum out of her mouth and stuck it on the dashboard. She then pushed Wasabi's seat back and climbed in front of him, taking control of the car. She sped up, driving at wild speeds way above the speed limit. Hiro climbed forward in the car and I followed.  
"Stop the car!" He ordered. "Baymax and I can take this guy!" Just as he said that, the car door flew off and Hiro almost fell out of the car. Luckily, Baymax caught him and pushed him back into the car. I climbed into his lap and Baymax buckled us both in.  
"Seat belts save lives. Buckle up every time."  
"What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing?" Wasabi called as Gogo made sharp turns, swung the car around, and skidding across a train track, narrowly avoiding an incoming train. We drove along the harbor, and Hiro and I connected eyes with the masked man for a moment, before he dove away. I looked forwards again, and saw we were coming near the end of the dock.  
"We don't have a lot of land left, Gogo!" I cried. Hiro gripped onto my waist as we drove into a tunnel of Microbots, the opening slowly getting smaller.  
"We're not gonna make it!" Wasabi cried.  
"We're gonna make it!" Honey Lemon comforted.  
"We're not gonna make it!"  
"We're gonna make it!"  
"We're not gonna make it!"  
"We're gonna make it!"  
Everyone screamed for dear life as we burst through the tunnel and plummeted into the water. The pressure made the car windshield crack, and the weight of the vehicle made it sink faster and faster. I struggled to undo the seat belt, unable to hold my breath, but it appeared to be stuck. I struggled and fought, attempting to undo the belt, but to no avail. I struggled one last time, and the lack of breath took over, knocking me out cold.


	33. Chapter 33

I woke up cold and wet, and feeling as though I were levitating. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and looked what felt like behind me to come face-to-face with someone's chest. Slowly, my eyes wandered up and met with Hiro's face. He looked down at me and smiled that goofy, gap-toothed smile, then set me down. I tried to stand, but my legs were unstable and I wobbled. Hiro grabbed onto me and I put an arm around his shoulders, while he wrapped one around my waist. We approached a large house and Fred stood by the door.  
"Where are we?" Hiro asked.  
"Oh! Welcome to _mi casa._ That's French for 'front door.'" I rolled my eyes at his half-brained response.   
"It's really not..." Honey Lemon corrected him.   
"Listen, nitwit," Gogo barked. "A lunatic in a mask just tried to kill us. I'm not in the mood for any-" The door opened, revealing a tall butler, and Gogo stopped talking.  
"Welcome home, Master Fredrick."  
"Heathcliff, my man!" Fred turned to all of us. "Come on in, guys. We'll be safe in here." Heathcliff held out his fist as Fred passed by, and Fred fist-bumper him. Hiro and I passed by, but we just waved. The house was beautiful and extravagant, with portraits lining the hallway we walked down.  
"Freddie, is this your house?" Honey Lemon asked, just as shocked as the rest of  
us.   
"I thought you lived under a bridge, Gogo remarked.  
"Well, technically it belongs to my parents. They're on vacay at the family island. We should totally go there sometime, frolic."  
"Are we sure this is Fred?" I whispered to Hiro.  
"I'm not sure anymore." We attempted to contain our laughter as we entered a large set of double doors. My jaw dropped at how much super hero merchandise filled the oddly lit room.  
"You've got to be kidding me," I sighed. Wasabi looked over at a painting of Fred on a white tiger.  
"If I wasn't just attacked by a guy in a Kabuki mask, I think this would be the weirdest thing I've seen all day."  
"My brain hates my eyes for seeing this," I muttered. Hiro helped me over to a beanbag chair at a table with paper, pencils, and pens. We sat next to each other and Hiro began drawing some bird symbol on a piece of paper.  
"Your body tempretures are still low." Hiro and I didn't respond, and after a few seconds, I felt a tremendous amount of pressure on my back, followed by a steady amount of low heat on my body. Hiro continued drawing while the others came over to share the heat Baymax was providing.  
"It's like spooning a warm marshmallow."  
"It's so nice."  
"Oh yeah. That's toasty."  
"Mm. Good robot." Hiro finished his drawing and held it out to the others.  
"Does this symbol mean anything to you guys?" He asked.  
"Yes!" Fred pointed to the drawing. "It's a bird!"  
"No! The guy in the mask was carrying something with this symbol on it."  
"Apprehending the man in the mask will improve Hiro and Mae's emotional state." Baymax informed the others.  
" _Apprehend_ him? We don't even know who he is." I hated to admit that Gogo was right.  
"I have a theory!" Fred ushered us to the large couch and pulled a stack of something out of one of of boxes. He handed a comic book to Wasabi, Hiro, and Gogo.  
"Dr. Slaughter, MD?"  
"Actually millionaire weapons designer Malcom Chazzletick."  
"The Anihillator?"  
"Behind the mask, billionaire Reid Axworthy."  
"Baron Von Destruc- oh just get to the point already!"  
"Don't you guys see? The man in the mask is none other than..." He turned on the large TV, which just happened to be tuned into a channel featuring a picture of Mr. Krei. "... Voilà! Alistar Krei!"  
"What?"  
"Think about it: Krei wanted your Microbots, and you said no. But rules don't apply to a man like Krei."  
"There's no way. The guy's too high profile."  
"Then who was the man in the mask?"  
"I don't know..."  
"We don't know anything about him," I sighed.  
"His blood type is AB negative. Cholesterol levels are-"  
"Baymax, you scanned him?"  
"I am programmed to assess all my patients' needs."  
"Yes! I can use the data from the scan to find him."  
"You'd have to scan everyone in San Fransokyo, and that might take, I don't know, forever."  
"No, no, no, no, no, I... Just have to look for another angle." He looked around and snatched up an action figure. "Got it! I'll scan the whole city at the same time. I'll just have to upgrade Baymax's sensor." He looked at another set of action figures, then back at all of us. "Actually, if we're gonna catch this guy, I need to upgrade all of you."  
"Upgrade who now?" Wasabi asked, sounding concerned.  
"Those who suffer a loss require support from friends and loved ones."  
"All right, I like where this is heading." Fred sounded all-too eager.  
"We can't go against that guy! We're nerds!"  
"Hiro, we want to help, but we're just... us."  
"No, you came so much more." Gogo placed a hand on my shoulder and so stood up with her, the others soon following.  
"Tadashi Hamada was our best friend. We're in."  
Can you feel it? Guys, do you feel this? Our origin story begins here. We're gonna be super heroes!"


	34. Chapter 34

I walked through the large, glass, French doors to see Hiro out in a little gazebo, instructing Wasabi on what to do. His suit was a bright green and blue, perfectly matching his nickname. He sliced an incoming tennis ball, then moved forwards, proceeding to slice the machine dispensing the tennis balls. After Hiro and Wasabi seemingly concluded with their business, I spoke up.  
"Hey Hiro, Wasabi." They both turned around, and Hiro looked at me in astonishment, then cleared his throat and spoke.  
"H-hey, Mae. Your new hair looks nice." I blushed and smiled.  
"Thanks. I never thought I'd like pink, yet here we are." Honey Lemon had taken me to get my hair re-dyed, and while we were there, Honey insisted it got re cut. Now my hair was 'normal,' parted to the right with layered side bangs, and dyed a sunset pink. Wasabi ducked out on his own, and Hiro smiled his goofy, adorable smile.  
"Are you ready to make your suit?" I sighed and looked at him.  
"Really, Hiro, I don't need to be a part of the group."  
"Nonsense! I... may or may not have already thought of the perfect power for you." I laughed and sat down on the grass. Hiro followed and laid down, staring at the bright blue sky.  
"All right, what's this ' _perfect_ power' you've thought of?" Hiro chuckled at how I said the word 'perfect.'  
"I was thinking you could have magnetic powers?" I was thoroughly intrigued now, and magnetic powers actually sounded pretty great.  
"All right, you've got me. That does sound pretty awesome."  
"Yes!" Hiro grabbed my hand and led me through Fred's house. practically dragging me back to the cafè. Rather than entering the actual building, we burst into the garage, so we could make my suit. Hiro pulled up the design program, and before he could even open his mouth, I began planning.  
"I'm thinking we have it be a pink skirt and a black, crop top shirt with pink sleeves. The leggings will be black, and the midriff will be covered by mesh, and it will all be topped off with a pair of pink, heeled boots." I dusted my hands to signal I was done and smirked at Hiro, who looked shocked.  
"Okay, but how are we going to put the magnetism in?" My smirk remained unmoving. I had already thought of that.  
"Simple: we make an endoskeleton to go on the palms of my hands with high powered magnets in the center, all connected by bracelets."  
"Wow... you've officially out-nerded me, Mae." I curtsied dramatically, causing both of us to erupt into fits of laughter. Baymax waddled into the garage and waved his puffy hand in a circular motion.  
"Hello, Hiro and Mae."  
"Hi, Baymax," I greeted. "Do you need anything?"  
"No," he stated simply. I nodded and focused on helping Hiro make my suit.  
  
  
The next day, Hiro and I ate quickly, then raced off to Fred's house so I could test my abilities. I sat and watched Hiro and Fred set up, until everything was done.  
"All right, everything's all set up. Time to test your magnetism." I pressed the button on the bottom of the bracelet, and then stuck my hand out. One of the small beams floated to my hand, and I caught it.  
  
"This is so awesome!" I cried happily.  
"Now try getting them to levitate and shoot out." I pressed the button again to reverse the magnet's polarity, then slowly brought my hand up from the bottom. The metal began to levitate, and then I stuck my hand out straight, sending it flying.  
"This actually works!" I practically jumped on Hiro as I hugged him. Though he was shocked at first, he hugged back. "Thank you, Hiro! This is amazing."


	35. Chapter 35

Hiro came over and beamed at us. I smiled at him, actually looking pretty hot in his purple suit. I smiled at him as he called to all of us.  
"Hey guys. Check this out." I followed directly behind Hiro, and the others were not far away. We walked to where the gazebo was, to see Baymax standing in bright red armor, looking very stoic and threatening. I smiled at how amazing this was, everything coming together.  
"I'd like to introduce Baymax 2.0!"  
"Oh... he's glorious..." Fred's voice was slightly muffled by his suit. Baymax waved his hand in the circular motion, toning down his threatening appearance.   
"Hello." A butterfly flew past Baymax, and he began chasing it. Hiro stopped him from running off too far.   
"Hold up, focus. Show them what you've got." Baymax tilted his head in confusion. "The fist. Show them the fist." Baymax held out his fist, but only did what he does when giving a fist bump.  
"Balalala." I giggled at the cute robot.  
"No, not that. The thing, the other thing." Baymax held out his fist again, but this time, a blue glow came from the sides, and the fist launched forwards, taking out a statue and part of a wall, and then looping back onto Baymax's arm.  
"Whoa!" I cried in astonishment.  
"Rocket fist make Freddie so happy!" Fred clapped his clawed hands together.  
"That's just one of his upgrades." Hiro climbed onto the back of Baymax, then offered me his hand. "Come on, Mae. I want to show you something." I giggled and took his hand, and he helped me up. I gripped onto his shoulders tight, right against his back. "Baymax, wings." Wings shot out from Baymax's back and my jaw dropped open.  
"No way!"  
"Thusters." Baymax's thrusters kicked in, and he levitated above the ground just a bit.  
"I fail to see how flying makes me a better healthcare companion."  
"I fail to see how you fail to see that this is awesome!" I giggled at Hiro's response. "Full thrust!" At first, this seemed awesome, until Baymax began flying in the wrong direction. Everyone screamed and got out of the way and Baymax ended up horizontal and flew forwards, stopping himself before he hit a wall. "Whoa, whoa. Steady. big guy." Baymax leveled out and got ready to fly in the air. "Now let's take this slow." Rather than listening, Baymax shot forwards, yet again almost crashing into the wall. "Up, up, up, up, up!" Baymax did as told and launched up into the air, but he was barely using his thrusters. "Thrust, thrust, thrust!" Baymax kicked the thrusters into full gear, sending us shooting forwards in the sky. "Too much thrust, too much thrust!" I resisted the urge to scream as I gripped onto Hiro tighter, wrapping both my arms around his shoulders. We shot up, over the Golden Gate Bridge, then we started descending down, and he turned on the thrusters. "No, no, no, no, no!"  
"Back on! Back on!" I cried loudly, and Baymax did as he was told. We flew steadily against the line of cars, whizzing past them at a speed that made them all look like a blur. "Go up! Up, up, up!" Baymax did as he was told and landed on the top of one of the spires of the Golden Gate Bridge. Hiro and I sighed and panted, still calming down.  
"Oh man... Maybe..."  
"Maybe enough flying for today. What do you say, buddy?" Baymax scanned us both.  
"Your neurotransmitter levels are rising steadily."  
"Which means what?" Hiro sounded scared.   
"The treatment is working." Baymax began tipping, and then falling off of the spire we were on.  
"Oh no!"  
"No, no, no, no, no! Whoa, Baymax!" Right before we struck the water, Baymax kicked the thrusters back in and we flew above the water. Hiro opened his eyes and saw that we were actually flying and he cracked a huge smile.  
"Yes! Yeah! Yes!" Baymax soared over the city, then up higher and higher, running his hand along a rope attached to a flying power source over the city. He then landed on one and I climbed off, helping Hiro down. Hiro took off his helmet, and then the three of us sat down, staring at the beautiful sunset.  
"Wow..." Hiro was still slightly out of breath. "That was... that was..."  
"Sick." Hiro and I both looked at Baymax. "It is just an expression." I chuckled.  
"That's... that's right, buddy."   
"I am never taking the bus again." Hiro stood up and offered me his hand. I took it and he smiled at me. "Isn't this beautiful, Mae?"  
"I never in my life thought I would see something like this. It looks like something straight out of a painting." I smiled at him. "It's the most beautiful thing I've seen."  
"It's not for me..." I turned to him and raised my eyebrows.   
"What? This is absolutely stunning. What could possibly be more beautiful than this?"  
"You..." His voice was so quiet I had to make sure I heard him correctly.  
"I'm sorry... what?" He turned to face me and met his brown eyes with my violet ones.   
"You're more beautiful than this sunset could ever hope to be." I was at a loss for words. "Mae, I'm really sorry about... everything that's happened, but I promise you're not going to be alone. I'll be here whenever you need me."  
"Thanks Hiro. I..." I tried to find the right words. "Thank you, for everything."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Before I came here, when I was back in Oregon, I thought my life would never get better. And then I came here, and just being with you and Tadashi again made me feel so much better. Even after Tadashi died, being around you made me feel better. Thank you for making me feel... happy for the first time in ages." Before Hiro could protest or pull away, I leaned close and kissed his lips softly. I only planned to kiss him for a moment, but Hiro quickly kissed back, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer.  
"Oh my." Hiro and I pulled away and looked at the innocent Baymax, then started laughing. Baymax scanned us again.  
"Your emotional states have improved. I can deactivate if you say you are satisfied with your care." Hiro pulled away and we both looked at Baymax, shock all over our faces.  
"What? No, I don't want you to deactivate." Hiro pointed out into nothingness. "We still have to catch that guy, so... fire up your super sensor." With a little bit of a struggle, Baymax was able to stand, then moved his head and turned in circles, scanning the entirety of the boundaries of Sanfransokyo.   
"I have found a match," Baymax pointed to a deserted island with an ominous building, "on that island."  
"Let's go get the group." I looked at Hiro. His golden brown eyes were wider than usual. "Hiro? Are you okay?" He shook his head, as if shaking away a memory or a though, then smiled at me, attempting to cover up his distress.  
"I'm fine, Mae. Let's go." He climbed onto Baymax and then helped me up, but something about him seemed spaced out and somewhere else.


	36. Chapter 36

I still rode on Hiro’s back, but now, Gogo rode on Baymax’s right wing, and Honey Lemon on his left. The island wasn’t that far away now. Fred dangled from one of Baymax’s legs, attempting to look as if he were flying on his own, while Wasabi clung to the other one, seemingly fearing for his life.  
"Killer view," Gogo marveled, actually looking impressed for once.  
"Yeah. If I... if I wasn't terrified of heights, I might actually enjoy this," Wasabi's distressed voice called from below. "But I'm terrified of heights, so I don't love this." I chuckled at Wasabi, sounding almost like a child, as Baymax flew closer and closer to the island. Being right against Hiro's back, I could feel his heart beat, thundering out of control, and his breathing was extremely rapid.  
"Hiro, are you okay?" He didn't look back at me, in fear of knocking me off, but I could tell he was trying to smile and reassure me.  
"I'm fine, Mae. I'm just... we're finally going to catch Krei. He'll get the justice he deserves." I nodded and kept silent after that, but I knew that wasn't the full reason he was one sentence away from a full-blown panic attack. "There." Hiro pointed to an open spot in the fenced area of the building. "Baymax, take us in." The armored robot slowed down, then slowly lowered, making sure not to crush Wasabi and Fred. Everyone climbed off, and once Hiro did, he reached for my hand, almost in desperation, and held on tight. I looked at him in concern, but decided to not say anything.  
"Awesome! Our first landing together as a team!"  
"Fred, you are the biggest fangirl I have ever met in my life." I looked at everyone else nodded. "Guys, come on." We walked to where the entrance to the building was, passing by several signs that could warn us from going any closer. Wasabi was walking the farthest behind, cowering a little more at every sign he read.   
"'Quarantine?'" He hissed. "Do you people know what 'quarantine' means?"  
"Quarentine: enforced isolation to prevent contamination that could lead to disease, or in some cases, death."  
"There's a skull face on this one. A skull face!" I turned around to look at Wasabi, my pink hair flying.  
"Could you grab me that one? I can put it on my wall." Wasabi flashed me an unamused look and I laughed at my own joke, then turned back around. We stood in front of the door, our nerves all on edge.   
"Be ready," Hiro cautioned. "He could be anywhere." Something snapped behind us, and we all jumped on it, firing our weapons like crazy. I lifted away some loose wires from the fence and brought them to my hands, then began swinging at the air.  
"Fire!" Fred screamed, voice still slightly muffled by the head of his suit. "Spitting fire! Spitting fire!" The dust cleared, revealing a circle of where our materials hit, completely avoiding a pigeon that just sat there, staring at us. I face palmed, careful not to crush my glasses.  
"That... was a bird," I sighed, feeling embarrassed.   
"Well, at least we know our gear works." I smiled at Honey's ever-present optimism. Wasabi stepped up to the doors, and rather than trying to open them, he activated one of his hand blades and dug it into the steel of the doors. Much like a Jedi from _Star Wars,_ Wasabi began moving the blade in a large circle so that we all could step through. However, when it came time for him to finish the circle, he messed up and ended up veering way off. He groaned and back tracked, forming the crooked circle. The metal fell to the ground, and one-by-one, we entered, Gogo rolling her eyes at Wasabi. Fred walked in the back of the group, and as we walked down a long, dark corridor, he began singing.  
"Seven intrepid friends led by Fred, their leader, Fred. Fred's Angels... Fred's Angels. Harnessing the power of the sun with the ancient amulet they found in the attic. The amulet is green. It's probably an emerald."  
"Fred?" Fred stopped and looked at Wasabi. "I will laser-hand you in the face."  
"Please do," I encouraged.  
"Guys." Everyone shut up so that Hiro could be heard. "Any sign of him, Baymax?" The robot tried scanning, but looked at us in defeat.  
"This structure is interfering with my sensor."  
"Perfect. Robot's broken," Wasabi deadpanned. Everyone kept walking, except for Honey Lemon, who had stopped to look through a narrow doorway. I stopped and looked at her, halting the whole group.  
"Honey?" I asked, concerned.  
"Guys, you might want to see this." I helped her pry open the doors so everyone could enter. In front of us stood giant, broken circles, looking as if they had been burnt. To our left, there was a control room looking as ancient as the rings.  
"What do you think it is, genius?" I whispered to Hiro, who let go of my hand.   
"I'm not sure, but look." Hiro pointed to one of the rings, and there, imprinted on it, was the red and white bird symbol from before. We walked into the control room and began pushing buttons. Honey Lemon was able to pull up camera footage of something that seemingly happened recently.  
"Hiro..." We all gathered around the monitor. There stood Krei, talking to some government officials.  
"Krei..."  
" _That's right. We were asked to do the impossible. That's what we did. We've reinvented the very concept of travel. Friends, I present Project Silent Sparrow_." The rings powered up, to reveal that they were teleporters. " _General, may I?"_ The official looking man handed Krei his hat. and he threw it into one of the rings, and it came out the other one, landing in a man's hands. The man who caught it threw it back, and the hat went back to its owner perfectly fine.  
"Magic hat..." I rolled my eyes at Fred's stupidity.  
" _Teleportation: the transport of matter instantaneously through space. Not science fiction any more._ " The view switched to another camera, revealing Krei and the others standing in the control room we were currently in. Some scientist-looking people pushed buttons, making sure the portals stayed stable. " _Now, we didn't spend billions of tax dollars to teleport hats. Ladies and gentlemen, you're here to witness history."_ Krei pushed a button and began speaking over an intercom. " _Ready to go for a ride, Abigail?"_ The camera switched again, revealing a young girl in a white suit stepping into a pod.  
" _We've invited all these people. Might as well give them a show."_ The camera switched again, now back to the control room.   
" _T-minus thirty seconds to launch. Twenty nine... twenty eight..."  
"This is argo. Capsule's in position."  
"Twenty seven..."  
"Sir, we've picked up a slight irregularity in the magnetic containment field."  
"Mr. Krei, is there a problem?"  
"No, no. No problem. It's well within the parameters. Let's move forwards. Three... two... one..."  
"Cabin pressure is go."  
"Pod engaged." _The camera switched to Abigail's view, but the footage began breaking up, and the portals began freaking out.  
" _Field breach! Abort!"_ The footage from Abigail's camera cut off, and it flashed back to the control room.  
"Oh no..." Honey Lemon whispered.  
" _It's breaking up! The pilots gone!"  
"Portal two is down!"  
"The magnetic containment field's down." _The portals began sucking in materials surrounding it, out of control.   
" _Krei, shut it down now!"_ Krei smashed a button, and everything shut down. Abigail was forever lost. " _I want this island sealed off!"_ Hiro stopped the footage and we all turned around as Hiro walked over to stand next to Baymax.  
"The government shut down Krei's experiment..."  
"...and he's using your Microbots to steal his machine back. Krei's the guy in the mask."  
"Oh no." We all turned around just to see a panel come smashing towards us. Everyone ducked and Hiro covered me, but Baymax was, luckily, strong enough to stop the panel of concrete from crushing us. My lungs began to sting, and I found myself coughing hysterically, barely able to breathe.   
"Baymax, get us out of here!" Baymax threw the panel back, revealing the man in the mask. I tried to stand, but my lungs were too weak, and I collapsed back to the ground. Hiro placed his hand behind my head and looked up at the others.  
"Go for the transmitter, behind his mask." I coughed harder, my lungs attempting to rid themselves of all the dust. The others raced off, and Hiro looked down at me. "Mae, are you all right?" I could barely squeak out a response.  
"Y-ye-yeah." I let out another cough and began tasting blood. Hiro turned to the robot.  
"Baymax, do you have an inhaler."  
"I am programmed to provide for all of my patients needs." There was a compartment in his armor, and out of it he pulled my inhaler, the same color as his armor. I quickly took it, and after a few more coughing fits, I was able to stand. I was a little light-headed, so Hiro helped me up onto Baymax, and the three of us flew over to the others. Honey Lemon threw down some slippery chemical meant to slow down the masked man, but instead, Wasabi ended up slipping on it, and crashed into Fred.  
"Oh my god..." I muttered. "Hiro, shall we take care of this?" Baymax shot out his rocket fist, sending Krei tumbling to the ground. We all went down to meet him, and Hiro snatched up the mask he had worn that fell to the ground. The hooded man, Krei's apprentice, emerged from the shadows and stood over Krei.  
"It's over, Krei." The man stood up, and the Hooded Man removed his face covering. I practically screamed at who it was.  
And then I looked at the man in the mask.


	37. Chapter 37

"Pr-Professor Callaghan?" Hiro gasped out, staring at the tall man that once wore the mask. I was still frozen, shaking in fear at who the hooded man was. He looked at me and smiled a devilish grin.  
"What's the matter, Mae? Aren't you happy to see your father?" I chose not to respond and focused on Callaghan, who I thought had died a month ago in the fire.  
"The explosion... you died..."  
"No. I had your Microbots." Realization washed over the both of us, and tears formed in Hiro's eyes. Anger and fury boiled in my blood.  
"But, Tadashi... you just let him die..." I resisted the urge to slam a pole that was nearby into Callaghan's spine.  
"Give me the mask, Hiro," he growled. Hiro shouldered away from the old man and I finally found my voice.  
"How did you get out of prison?" I hissed, looking my father square in his eyes, the same color as mine.  
"Simple: Mr. Callaghan freed me with his Microbots, in exchange for helping him with his plan. You and your friends here are a mild inconvenience, Mae, but don't think I've forgotten everything you've done."  
"I left because you were abusive and neglectful! And I didn't call the police, Cass Hamada did! You need help, dad, but you're refusing to get it!"  
"I don't need it, Mae. I just need to take down the one person standing in my way: you."  
"You're sick and twisted."  
"You and Hiro couldn't even save Tadashi. You're worthless."   
"Callaghan, Tadashi went in there to save you!" Hiro cried.  
"That was his mistake." That was the breaking point for Hiro.  
"Baymax, destroy."  
"My programming prevents me from injuring a human being."  
"Not anymore." Hiro turned and opened Baymax's access port. He grabbed the caregiving card Tadashi had made and removed it, throwing the green chip to the ground.  
"Hiro, what are you...?"  
"Hiro, this is not what-" Hiro closed Baymax's port and his eyes glowed a bright red. I stepped back a bit and looked at Hiro with wide eyes. I couldn't believe he was crossing this line.  
"Do it Baymax! Destroy him!" Baymax looked at Callaghan, then began charging at him, swinging his fists.  
"No! Stop, Baymax!" I cried. The others ran up to him, trying to stop the robot, but he merely tossed them aside, as if they were nothing but rag dolls. I spotted Baymax's chip, lying on the floor undamaged. I raced over and picked it up. In his anger, Hiro had tossed the mask aside, and Callaghan raced over and picked it up. He grabbed my father by the arm, and they began exiting through the ceiling on a tower of Microbots. Baymax raised his fist up to shoot off his rocket fist, and I opened his access port and stuck the chip in, stopping him just in time. Baymax blinked and looked at everyone, taking in the damage he had caused.  
"My healthcare protocol had been violated." Baymax helped Fred up, but everyone took a step back from him. "I regret any distress I may have caused." Hiro stormed up to me and glared at me, looking angrier than I had ever seen him in my life.  
"How could you do that? I had him." Wasabi stepped forwards to defend me.  
"What you just did, we never signed up for." Gogo stepped forwards, too.  
"We said we'd catch that guy. That's it."  
"I never should have let you help me." Hiro turned to face his robot. "Baymax, find Callaghto an and Mr. Rogue." Baymax looked up at the sky, but gave negative results.  
"My enhanced scanner has been damaged." Hiro climbed onto Baymax in anger.   
"Wings." I raced up to the robot, but Hiro wouldn't let me climb on.  
"Hiro, this isn't part of the plan..."  
"Fly." Without stopping to think, Baymax flew off, carrying Hiro with him and leaving the rest of us stranded here. I paced back and forth, trying to think of a solution, but nothing came to my mind.  
"Does anyone have any ideas of how we can get out of here?" Fred smiled and pulled out his phone from inside the suit.  
"I've got this, guys." He pulled his arm out of the suit and dialed a number. "Heathcliff! Listen, we're in a bit of a situation, and we need you to come pick us up. Uh, we're on some abandoned island right out of the city. Yeah... okay." Fred hung up and looked at all of us. "He'll be here in a little while. We need something to kill the time with." I looked up at the control room.  
"I want to look at that footage again. The tape wasn't finished yet, and I want to see if there's anything else on it." I walked up to the control room to view the footage, and what I saw shocked me: that girl, Abigail... she was Callaghan's daughter. I heard the whirring of helicopter blades and pulled out a USB I saw sticking out of the desk. I raced down the steps just in time to climb up the ladder.  
"Guys, I found something on the footage that I think reveals Callaghan's motives."  
"What is it?"  
"Abigail, the girl who went into the pod... I did some investigating on the tape... she's his daughter." Honey Lemon's hands flew to her mouth.  
"Oh my god..."   
"The question is, why is he using the portals?" I tapped into the glasses Hiro had designed for me. "Search 'Krei Tech.'" In only a few seconds, the result I was looking for came up. "Krei's opening up a new building for his institute. I bet you that has something to do with these portals." Heathcliff hovered above Hiro's garage, and we all climbed down the ladder one by one. I stood in front over everyone, stepping into the entrance. Hiro was crying, with his hand on Baymax's lit up stomach.  
"Hiro?" He looked at me and his eyes softened.  
"Mae... Guys, I-" Before he could finish his sentence, I strode up to him and hugged him tight. He cried a few more tears, and the others approached. Gogo placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"We're going to catch Callaghan, and Mae's father, and this time, we'll do it right." Wasabi stepped up, and I thought he was going to say something sentimental, but instead, he mildly chastised Hiro.  
"But maybe don't leave your team stranded on a spooky island next time?"  
"Oh man..."  
"Nah, it's cool. Heathcliff picked us up in the family chopper."  
"Hiro, I found something you should see." I handed Hiro the USB and he plugged it in and played it from where the footage had stopped.  
" _You almost got us killed!"  
"Krei, you did this!" _Some military men restrained Callaghan. " _You knew it wasn't ready!"  
"_Callaghan? He was there?"  
"He was such a good man. What happened?"  
"I don't know, but the answer's in here somewhere."  
"Oh, I know where to find it." I took the mouse from Hiro and rewound the footage far back, then switched to the camera that had a view of Abigail.  
"There he is, with the pilot..."  
"Hang on."  
" _We've invited all these people."_ I rewound the footage just a little bit, then zoomed in some text on Abigail's helmet. It read 'Callaghan." Hiro looked at me in shock.  
"The pilot was Callaghan's daughter," I informed him. "Callaghan blames Krei."  
"This is a revenge story," Fred finished.  
"So what are we waiting for?"  
"We need to go to the site of the place where Krei is opening his new location. That's where Callaghan and my father are heading." The others walked over to Baymax so that we could get ready to fly off. I was going to go with them, but Hiro grabbed my wrist and stopped me.  
"Mae... I'm really sorry about how mad I got. I was just... blinded by what Callaghan had done."  
"Hiro, it's fine. You were angry." He smiled at me.  
"Thanks, Mae. I'm so glad you're not upset."   
"I couldn't be mad at you." I kissed his cheek and handed him his helmet. He put it on and took my hand, helping me up onto Baymax once again.   
This time, I was getting my father locked away for good.


	38. Chapter 38

We arrived there a little too late. Callaghan had Krei wrapped up in an arm of Microbots, and my father was pointing a gun at the people below, making sure they didn't try anything. Hiro let everyone except me down on the roof, then flew over to Callaghan's earshot.  
"Professor Callaghan." He turned his attention from Krei to Hiro and I. "Let him go!"  
"Is this what Abigail would have wanted?"  
"Abigail is gone!" Hiro sighed and tried to keep his temper in control.  
"This won't change anything. Trust me, I know."   
"Listen to the kid, Callaghan," Krei pleaded, looking terrified and desperate. "Please, let me go. I'll give you anything you want." If I could have prevented Krei from speaking that last sentence, I would have. Callaghan turned to Krei, anger flashing in his eyes.  
"I want my daughter back," he growled. Callaghan began sending out the Microbots, causing the people to scream and run.  
"Go for the mask!" Hiro ordered everyone. "Baymax." The robot was about to take off, but I stopped him.  
"Wait!" Hiro looked back at me this time. "Hiro, if I don't deal with my father, no one will. I need to take him down myself." Hiro's wide eyes went even wider.  
"What? Mae, he's going to kill you, for sure. You can't... I won't let you." I rolled my eyes.  
"Wow, thanks for that bout of confidence, Hiro. I'm serious. Lower me down there. I promise I'll call to you if I need help." Without saying anything, Hiro lowered me to the ground, and after hovering for a second too long, flew off. I stood there, shaking for only a moment, before I found my strength.  
"Dad!" I barked. He whipped around and smirked at me once again, likely thinking of ways he could kill me. I swallowed my fear and glared at him straight in his purple eyes. "This fight is between you and me. You've antagonized me for too long. I am _not_ the source of your problems!"  
"If you had never been born, your mother would never have walked out on us! Your existence was the start of every problem this family ever had!" He lunged at me and attempted to swing a punch, but I quickly dodged it and activated my magnets. I held my hand out and some stray metal bits flew towards me, slamming against my father in the process. Before the bits could come to me, I turned off the magnets, and they slammed down on m father, slicing his skin. I then brought a small beam to my hand and threw it towards my father, sending him flying backwards. He shakily stood up and glared daggers at me.  
"I've had enough of you!" Throwing the beam I had just shot at him, my father knocked me against a pillar at an odd angle. My lower spine slammed against the pillar, and I screamed in pain. At first, my spine felt as if it were burning, and as though it had been stabbed with a large knife, and then, I couldn't feel anything, but I also couldn't move my legs. Using all of my strength, I raised my hand to my ears and pressed the button to activate my com device. Based on what I was hearing, I wasn't the only one in trouble.   
"He's too strong!"  
"There's no way out!"  
"You can't beat him!"  
"Help! I can't beat him!"  
"Hiro!" Everyone stopped talking and listened to me. "My father did something. He slammed me against a pillar, and... and... now I can't feel anything on my lower spine. I can't feel my legs." There was a brief silence, and then, like the voice of an angel, Hiro spoke.  
"Guys, I know how to beat him!"  
"Hiro..." I choked out.  
"Listen up. Use those big brains of yours and think your way around the problem. Look for a new angle." I thought he was going to ignore me entirely. "Mae, I'm coming to get you." I sighed and relaxed for a second, then I heard the sound of Baymax's jets. I smiled as Hiro reached down and pulled me up, only a moment before my father tried to snatch me up. I clung to Hiro's back as Baymax flew higher, attempting to take down Callaghan for good.  
"Okay, new plan: forget that mask, take out the bots. They'll get sucked up into the portal." I looked up to see Microbots getting sucked into the strong portal. Chemical explosions as fire erupted from below us, and more and more Microbots got sucked into the portal. Baymax called out his actions as he did them, which was a nice callback to before all of this got complicated.  
"Back kick. Knifehand. Round house. Hammerfist." Baymax was caught a moment off guard, and Callaghan wrapped us up in a rope of Microbots. However, Hiro's smug smile gave me hope.  
"This ends now!" Callaghan shot his arms out, attempting to send a group of Microbots, but nothing happened. Callaghan looked at his hands in confusion.  
"Looks like you're out of Microbots," I remarked smugly.  
"What?" Baymax broke free from the Microbots and they floated up into the portal.   
"Baymax." Baymax flew closer to Callaghan and stuck out his fist, but stopped an inch away from punching him. Callaghan unguarded his face and looked at Baymax in confusion. "Our programming prevents us from injuring another human being. But we'll take that." Baymax plucked the mask from Callaghan's face and crushed it in one swift motion. The Microbots beneath Callaghan crumbled away and were sucked into the portal, and not long after, the ones supporting the portal collapsed too, sending it crashing to the ground. Baymax landed and Hiro climbed off, carrying me on his back, then shifted me into his arms.   
"It's still on," I cried. "We have to shut it down."  
"We can't! The containment field is collapsing!" Krei informed us. "The portal is going to tear itself apart!"  
"We have to get out of here," Hiro sighed. We all started to run, when we noticed that a certain red-clad robot wasn't following us. Hiro turned around and called out to Baymax.  
"Baymax!" He didn't budge.  
"My sensor is detecting signs of life."  
"What?"  
"Coming from there." Baymax pointed to the portal. "The life signs are female. She appears to be in hyper sleep."  
"Callaghan's daughter..." I concluded. "She's still alive."  
"Abigail..." Professor Callaghan looked back at the portal in hope. Hiro handed me to Honey Lemon, then climbed up onto Baymax.  
"Let's go get her."  
"Hiro!" He looked back at me. "I understand you want to help, but I can't lose you. Please..."  
"The portal's destabilizing. You'll never make it."  
"She's alive in there. Someone has to help."  
"Yeah, because that went _so well_ the last time someone said that!" Baymax did a loop into the air, and then shot themselves into the portal. I stared at the gaping vacuum and the others hid behind a large piece of concrete, acting as some sort of barrier. I sighed and watched the portal, waiting for Hiro and Baymax to emerge. What seemed like days passed by before a red and white blur shot out from the portal, right before it collapsed. Everyone raced up to Hiro, and I was placed back in his arms. At first, I was ecstatic he had returned alive, but then I noticed his depressed expression, and that someone was missing.  
"Baymax?" Hiro shook his head sadly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest, crying a little bit myself. We all walked away before the police and ambulances could show up and ask us questions. We climbed up on a rooftop and watched everything unfold. Callaghan was forced into a police car, and Abigail was wheeled into an ambulance. Everyone drove off, and we all decided to head home, going our separate ways.


	39. Chapter 39

It had only been a couple of weeks since everything had happened. Since we no longer had Baymax, I had to go to the doctor's to see what had happened to my spine. It had been shattered, and the nerves were permanently damaged, resulting in paralysis from my waist down. At first, I was completely devastated, but with the help of the gang, Hiro, and Aunt Cass, I was able to get used to this. Granted, Aunt Cass didn't know about us being super heroes, so Hiro and I came up with a story involving my father dealing repeated blows to my spine with a pipe. I rolled my wheelchair over to the table where the rest of the group was sitting, followed closely behind by Hiro, who had one cautious hand on the back of the wheelchair.  
"Hey, guys!" Honey Lemon greeted us.   
"Mae, are you coming along?" Fred asked, taking the last bite out of his donut.   
"Yeah. I have nothing better to do today, and Hiro's setting up his lab, so I figured I'd come with you guys." I tapped the small box of miscellaneous items that I held in my lap, the only one that we hadn't brought to Tadashi's former lab. The five sitting down at the table stood so that we could leave, but before Hiro could walk out the door, Aunt Cass stopped him.  
"Have a great day, you two."  
"Thanks. Bye, Cass."  
"Bye Aunt Cass." Hiro turned to leave, but then turned back around and hugged Aunt Cass. "Last hug." Hiro wrapped his hands around the push handles and started wheeling me out the door.  
"Really, Hiro, I can wheel myself."  
"I know you can, but I just wanted to make things a little easier for my girlfriend." I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but smile. Honey Lemon practically squealed at the sight of Hiro and I.  
"Ooh, you guys are so cute together!"  
"Honey Lemon, stop," Gogo ordered her best friend. "You're embarrassing them."   
"Thank you," I sighed.  
"I'm sorry... I just can't help it!" We all rolled our eyes and began walking to the school. It was their day off from school, but we were all going to get some sort of work done. We arrived at the school in what seemed like no time, and all of us branched off to the rooms we needed to go to. Hiro pushed my wheelchair across the bridge, then let go, so that I could push myself like I wanted to. Hiro opened the doors and air conditioning slapped me across the face, chilling me. Hiro placed the hat that had once belonged to Tadashi on a coat holder, while I rolled over and began unloading boxes to the best of my ability, but Hiro quickly stopped me.  
"Whoa, whoa, Mae. It's okay if you don't help. Just you... being here is enough." Hiro quickly kissed my lips and I sighed.  
"I want to help, at least a little bit." Hiro looked around, then picked up the large Baymax fist that had saved Hiro's life. I placed it up on a shelf and Hiro smiled, then did his traditional fist bump, ending it with Baymax's signature.  
"Balalala..." Hiro turned around, and I looked at the fist, then noticed something green sticking out from the palm. I wheeled over and pried the fingers apart, then took the green thing in my hands, which I now realized was Baymax's green, Healthcare Chip.  
"Hiro..." He walked over and rested his hands on my shoulders.  
"Yes, Mae?" I held up the card and he took it, shock written all over his face. "Do you know what this means?" I nodded.  
"Let's get to work."  
  
"Ow?"  
"Oh, that was _so_ convincing," I deadpanned.  
"It doesn't have to be convincing, it just has to-" The white robot inflated and scanned the both of us.  
"I am Baymax, your personal Healthcare companion. Hello, Hiro. Hello, Mae." I could feel tears of joy rising in my throat. Baymax was back! He was alive. Hiro hugged the lovable robot, and then kissed me, hard. When we broke free, Baymax scanned me. "I am sorry about your paralysis."  
"Oh, it's fine. I've learned to manage." Hiro smiled at me and I couldn't help but cry happy tears.  
_Everything was perfect._


	40. Chapter 40

I rolled my wheelchair down the ramp in my house. Despite Hiro's protests and best efforts, I had decided I didn't want to get my spine fixed. I decided it was fine just the way it was, and I was perfectly mobile on the wheelchair. Although it was difficult, Hiro and I had decided that after we got married, we wanted to have children. My condition, fortunately, didn't affect anything reproductive-wise. I rolled my wheelchair back and forth, a comforting pacing replacement, as I waited for Hiro to get home. I had to be quiet, however, because I didn't want to wake Kaen, our only daughter at the moment. Baymax waddled his way down the stairs and watched me roll the chair back and forth a few times, then spoke up.  
"Your blood pressure and heart rate have increased dramatically, and your neural hormones are showing signs of distress. Are you all right, Mae?" I stopped rolling and sighed, turning to face Baymax.  
"I don't understand. We already had one child. I don't get why I'm so nervous about telling him that we're having another one."  
"It is common to feel distressed in your scenario. Would you like me to tell Hiro for you?"  
"That's really sweet, Baymax, but no thank you. I'm the one carrying the baby, so I should be the one to tell him." Just at that moment, the door opened, and Hiro walked in, looking tired and stressed. He hung up his coat, and the minute he saw me, his eyes lit up.  
"Hey, Mae. How did your book writing go?" I held a finger to my lips and gestured my head towards the stairs.  
"Kaen's asleep. If she gets woken up, she'll be really cranky." Hiro nodded and kissed my cheek, then walked over and flopped down on a chair at the kitchen table. "To answer your question, it went really well. The book's almost finished, much to my relief, so I should be able to send it to the publisher next week."  
"That's great! I can't wait to read the finished project." I rolled my eyes.  
"You've already been reading it over my shoulder. I think you know what's going on in the book." Hiro chuckled, his expression brightening for a moment. "What about you? How are things going at the company?"  
"Pretty good." That statement was followed by a large yawn. "We're trying to get this next project done on time, but it's really complex, so it's a bit difficult."  
"Oh, I'm sorry, honey."  
"It's fine. What can you do, am I right?" I nodded.  
"Do you want me to make you some food?" Hiro shook his head.  
"I'll take care of it. You can go to bed if you want. It's kind of late."  
"Now, you know I can't get into bed on my own."  
"Right, right... well, I'll make myself some food, and then we can just sit and... talk. You know, like we used to."  
"Up on top of the city, watching the stars?" Hiro nodded. "I'm really surprised Cass never noticed we were gone."   
"Oh, speaking of Aunt Cass, that reminds me... She invited us and the others over for breakfast tomorrow."  
"That sounds nice. It'll be great to see everyone again."  
"Yeah. The last time we saw any of them was when Kaen was born." I nodded sleepily. Hiro put his dishes in the sink and we both went upstairs.  
_I'll just tell everyone tomorrow morning. That saves time.  
  
_We approached the old cafè, and Hiro opened the door for me, holding Kaen in one arm. She wore an adorable black and white dress, with a white flower headband. I smiled at her black hair and brown eyes, looking just like Hiro. Everyone else was already there, and when they saw us, we were practically tackled.  
"Hiro! Mae!" One by one, we hugged and greeted all of them, and Kaen was swooped up by Honey Lemon and Gogo. I rolled my eyes and went over to the table. Everything was ready, so we all sat down at our places, with the exception of me. I just had to roll up to the table and I was fine. Bits and pieces of conversations were strung together, separated by everyone eating Cass' delicious food. When I was sure there was a lull in the conversation, I cleared my throat, and everyone focused on me.  
"I have something exciting to tell you guys."  
"Ooh, spill," Gogo urged. I rolled my eyes, since she and Honey Lemon already knew.  
"Well, for starters, I finished my book this morning, so it should be sent off to the publishers this afternoon." Everyone cheered, and when they quieted down, I spoke again. "The other thing is that there are now going to be four members of Hiro and my family." Hiro's fork dropped beside me, and Fred, Wasabi, and Cass' mouths went wide. Honey Lemon beamed at me and Gogo smiled encouragingly. I turned to Hiro when I spoke again. "Surprise!" I joked. "I'm pregnant again." Hiro looked at me in disbelief for a moment, but I could tell he was happy.  
"Are you being serious?" I nodded and smiled, which caused him to crack a big one. Right in front of everyone, Hiro kissed me long and hard, until we were interrupted by Kaen.  
"Ew!" She cried. "Mommy and Daddy are kissing!" Everyone laughed and I turned to Kaen, who was sitting in Honey Lemon's lap.  
"Kaen, you're going to have a little brother or sister! Are you excited?" Kaen began bouncing up and down in her aunt's lap.  
"Yay! I'm gonna be a big sister!"  
"Yes, yes you are!"  
"Kaen, did you not like Mommy and Daddy kissing?" Kaen looked her father in the face and shook her head so hard I thought it was going to fall off her neck. "Well, then how would you feel if I did this?" Hiro kissed me once again, making a big scene out of it.  
"Eeww!" Everyone laughed. "Uncle Wasabi, make them stop!"  
"Hiro, Mae." We both looked at Wasabi and he jokingly wagged a finger at us. I rolled my eyes, but went back to eating my breakfast.  
  
"Mae?" I looked up from my computer and turned my wheelchair around to face Hiro, who was lying in bed after his long day off. He got up and came over to me, pulling up his own desk chair and sitting down. "I've been thinking about this for years now, but I never wanted to bring it up." Hiro looked thoroughly distressed, which worried me.  
"What is it?"  
"Did the police ever catch your father after that battle with Callaghan?" I rolled it over in my mind, then calmly answered.  
"I don't think so, but I wouldn't worry about it."  
"What do you mean 'I wouldn't worry about it?' He's one of the most dangerous men I've ever met." I smirked at his ignorance.  
"Well, I'm married to a superhero, and I can still fully operate those magnetic bracelets myself, so _should_ an issue ever come up, I think we're covered." I kissed Hiro on the cheek.  
"I think I deserve a little more than that, Mrs. Hamada." I rolled my eyes and quickly kissed his lips. He smirked and got closer to my face.  
"Oh-ho, so _that_ _'s_ how you want to play it? Well, good thing Kaen isn't around to scream 'ew.'"  
I wasn't worried about the threat of my father. Everything I had right here was perfect.  
I couldn't ask for anything better.


End file.
